


Finding Rosa

by ashen_girl44



Series: Without you [3]
Category: Ugly Betty
Genre: Adopted Children, Adoption, Conspiracy, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fake Character Death, Family Drama, Suspense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-14 01:04:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 80,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9149941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ashen_girl44/pseuds/ashen_girl44
Summary: This is the third and final part of Without You, this is after Betty has gone to London, but is still missing Rosa, not to mention Daniel too! It may not seem very detty at the beginning, but I do promise a happy ending.





	1. Chapter 1: 2014

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty! So, this is four years after where part 2 left off, where Betty is still in London after going to her new job at Dunne publications. This is were it really diverges from cannon, especially since the last chapter of part two is where the series ended- except for the last scene. Daniel didn't follow Betty to London originally!

Betty woke up to the sound of birds from outside her window, and then the low rumble of traffic beyond that. It was cold, as it always was during winter time in her small house. Things had gone downhill ever since she left for London. there were times where it was all good, and she felt the comfort and hope she did in the first weeks of arriving, but that didn’t happen anymore.  
  
So much had happened over the course of the four years since her departure. She came to London, full of hope, excited about new opportunities that were what she had been working to for years, a new place, a new start. But things were missing, Daniel never even said goodbye! He was supposed to be her best friend, he should have said goodbye! But he didn’t, and for a whole year she didn’t hear from him, until he turned up one day with a sincere apology about not wanting to hound after her because she said they needed time. it wouldn’t have stopped them being friends, although she could somewhat blame herself for not telling him, or even discussing it.  
  
Since then she had sparse contact with Daniel, Betty still remaining angry over his year of silence, also at his ability to move on. he didn’t ring her out of the blue, instead he showed up at the door step of the flat organised by Dunn publishing, he explained how over the first year of no contact he was staying with Alexis and DJ in France working at MODE France along with Alexis, shortly before starting a charity in molly’s name as well as helping Alexis run MODE France.  
  
She was proud of him, he had finally done what she had told him to do and move on, he had. But things weren’t the same. Betty didn’t know how to feel about it, what was she expecting when she moved to London? for Daniel to follow? When she had told him that they weren’t going to get together because it wouldn’t be right and to move on? it wasn’t fair on Daniel to expect him to follow her to London, even if he did love her, she couldn’t ask that of him, could she?  
  
She had been confused for much of the first year about her relationship with Daniel, while she missed her friend, but was furious that he didn’t say goodbye. When he finally plucked up the courage and got over his anger at her leaving him he obviously wasn’t thinking along the same lines as Betty. Betty was hoping he would still love her in that way… so maybe they could be together, even if it meant Daniel moving over to London. the rest of her life didn’t shape up to what she had imagined. For the first two years, she had no social life apart from Christina, who wasn’t really within visiting distance, especially when Stuart got sick again.  
  
She missed her family, who hadn’t come over to visit her since the launch of her magazine, along with Mrs. Meade who decided to follow them since she was the one paying for it. she had told Betty then that Daniel would come around, he has just been through a lot with you and needs to clear his head. Mrs. Meade was still lovely to Betty, saying she put none of the blame onto Betty, instead onto Daniel who was behaving more like a child than normal.  
  
But, her job had been the only thing sustaining her, being the EIC of a new magazine was most of what she had hoped for, with a few details that weren’t the same to her dreams, mainly because Mr. Dunne was co-running it, and being the senior figure he did have a lot of say over the final decisions, but it was her dream and it was brilliant.  
  
Until… it wasn’t. Dunne publishing wasn’t able to support her magazine, as keeping it afloat was too much, despite it not even having an eighth of the budget of MODE. She lost her job, however was given one at another magazine as an editor, that payed even less than being the EIC. She had to move out of her flat funded by Dunn publications. She had been an editor for nearly two years now, while everyone else had moved on. the last time when she went to see her family, was when she could afford it, which was about a year ago, nothing had been right ever since.  
Betty got out of bed, making her way to her closet. She dressed more fashionably, even if she had less money to do so. Having a best friend/ flatmate that was an award-winning designer did help with the fashion side of things.  
  
Things in the last two years had changed so much, she had to move out of her company funded flat, after getting the demotion to editor. Then Stuart died, he was sick again, and for a while it seemed as if he was going into remission when they left New York with little William, since that had a happy ending. It turned out that William was actually Christina and Stuart’s son.  
  
Betty padded down the stairs. With Christina’s money, and what she had saved up they had managed to buy a house for the recently widowed Christina, William and Betty to live in. Betty was so grateful for her friend being there for her, even though she was in a crappy job, since the only editing position she was able to acquire was for a scarcely read magazine, the kind that ended up in the waiting room in the doctor’s office. She wasn’t even sure what the magazine wrote about, since it was mostly a mash of different ideas from a very miserable EIC. Nonetheless Betty had been angling for a promotion for quite a while, knowing a little more money wouldn’t hurt, also it was needed if Betty was going to go and visit her family any time soon.  
  
She had been to Hilda’s wedding, with Daniel as her plus one, where they danced for the entirety of the night, Daniel even daring to kiss her at the end. That was before London, now, everyone else seemed to be doing well. she hadn’t spoken to marc and Amanda for quite a while since she left for London, meanwhile Hilda was enjoying married life, and Justin occasionally came out for a visit.  
  
But it wasn’t the life she wished for, or even imagined. She had told her family about the cancellation of her magazine, however she did stretch the truth a tad, instead saying that her editor’s job was for a better magazine and didn’t pay so abysmally.  
  
There was one person who she never forgot however, it was Rosa. Her baby would be seven right about now, while William was six she had some idea about what it was like to live with a small child. She had never seen Rosa as far as she knew during all her time in London. the scarce contact she and Daniel had was on Rosa’s birthday, where they called each other and spoke about her. they didn’t have much contact on the account of Daniel moving on as well. since he had plucked up the courage to talk to her, he had experienced few relationships, as the majority of them were serious. He was currently with a woman he was engaged… yes, engaged to. One who didn’t like Betty, since she was Daniel’s first love, and took away the chance of being the mother of Daniel’s first child from his new fiancée.  
  
Betty wandered down the stairs. She was at the top floor, having a master bedroom to herself, complete with en suite that only produced ice water. The floor wasn’t heated since houses in London were so expensive. Christina was in the kitchen, while William happily played with his breakfast of porridge, Christina was still a top designer, however didn’t spend so much time doing it since Stuart’s death. It had hit them all hard.  
  
“hey,”  
  
“hey, luv. Are you okay?”  
  
“yeah,” Betty responded, pouring out a cup of coffee, as Christina smiled and shoved designs aside. She had been working on them again, some of them were really amazing that Betty considered telling Mr. Dunn about it, since he had plenty of contacts in the fashion world.  
  
“is it today you are asking for the big promotion?” she pulled another drawing of a sparkly gown towards her, while Betty grinned. William handed her the sequins.  
  
“to managing editor, yes,” Betty smiled, smoothing out her signature red dress. Red was her signature colour now, while Betty still had the original glasses Hilda gave her when she left for London she had since switched back to red plastic frames, but these were in a trendier style with larger lenses.  
  
“go girl!” Christina said, smiling at Betty. Christina pushed Betty over a crepe she must have gotten around the corner.  
  
“thank you, I am worried I won’t get it,” Betty faced her fears, blinking worriedly at her friend, who sighed and took a bite of her own breakfast.  
  
“you will! What happened to my optimistic friend who dressed up as a butterfly for Halloween?” Christina asked again, grinning. Betty smiled slightly, looking at the clock, before she ran out of the room, rifling through her big stack of papers on the coffee table. She was late, not good when you were looking for a promotion.  
  
“bye, Christina!” Betty called, running out of the door, and on her way to do a job that no one really cared about. And without answering her friend.  
  
Betty got back home later that day, she hadn’t been promoted, instead it had nearly been the opposite, since the magazine had been close to getting the axe. They had to come up with something that could save it, and along with that there was now a hiring freeze placed on the company. She sighed, went to the pub she frequented when she was new in London, and Christina could come down for a weekend visit, and they would spend the entirety of the afternoon in the pub with Christina, much like her first visit to London.  
  
She got in the door, kicking off her sleek black heels the minute she got inside. They landed on the thin cream carpet with a thud, before stepping towards the kitchen.  
  
“Christina? Christina, did you want dinner? I got take-out,” Betty called, holding a greasy bag of fish and chips. She still saw herself as a tourist, despite having seen most of the attractions London had to offer, that made it perfectly acceptable to buy fish and chips as a take-out, despite a fish supper being quite hard to find in the midst of London.  
  
“Betty, we actually have a guest,” Christina said, tentatively. Betty frowned, seeing how William hadn’t run out to meet his aunty Betty the minute she got in. maybe it was Christina’s mother again? even though Christina had had a falling out with the woman over her choice of career and how temperamental it could be.  Betty stepped into the living room, wishing she looked a bit better if it was Christina’s mother, since she could be so judgemental, and currently Betty looked a bit like she did when she first started at MODE. Her face was flushed from the cold, as well as having a pair of maroon tights on, which unintentionally matched her dress, and… her face.  
  
“Christina?” Betty walked back into the kitchen and came face to face with a smiling Daniel. she definitely hadn’t been expecting that! “Daniel!” Betty practically jumped into his arms to give him a hug. The last time she had seen Daniel in person was about two years ago, if she remembered correctly. She couldn’t believe it had been that long, she hadn’t even told Daniel she had lost her job as the EIC, he came for a short visit just before her magazine folded and she was demoted to editor.  
  
“hey…” he put her down gently, as he was much taller than she remembered, her feet touching the cold tile of the floor before Betty had a proper grip on Daniel.  
  
“what are you doing here?” Betty asked, lighting up with a massive grin on her face. she missed Daniel and even though he was engaged, she couldn’t help but think things along the lines of how much she loved Daniel, still… after all this time.  
  
“well, I needed to come and rescue MODE UK, and I thought I would make a quick detour,” Betty grinned in response, her face lighting up in the first time in months.  
  
“where, are you staying?” Betty asked, moving towards the cooker, while Christina reappeared.  
  
“I just put William down for a nap, and I see you have met our guest,” she smiled at Daniel, taking over the teabags from Betty.  
  
“guest?” Betty asked. Christina tended to invite people around who she used to know. It was a side effect of bereavement, loneliness.  
  
“yeah,” Daniel blushed slightly, looking at his feet “I am staying here for a bit, just until I can go somewhere else,” he smiled, sitting down at the table.  
  
“what are you talking about? Until you can go somewhere else?” Betty asked, putting the paper bags of take-out onto the table, moving aside some of the glitter that was scattered from that morning as she did so.  
  
“I think I am going to be hanging around for a while, in London. Alexis said MODE UK is in trouble, and since I am a Meade and have been working at MODE France for a while she decided she would deploy me,” Daniel bit his lip, but rifled through the bags on the table.  
  
“wow,” Betty grinned and then another thought popped into her head “will Melissa be joining you?” Melissa was Daniel’s fiancée, one that he had officially moved on from Betty with. She was a bitch in Betty’s terms, since the woman hadn’t said two nice words to Betty since they met.  
Daniel had met her in France, working for MODE. She was too, she was more like molly than some of Daniel’s other conquests. Still thin though, and blonde. she was a model, as well as working as a writer/journalist. She was intelligent and that was only one of the reasons why Betty hated her.  
  
“In a couple of weeks, she has to sort some stuff out for her official transition over to London.” Daniel smiled, reaching for a fry as Christina did the same. Betty was slightly stunned, she didn’t realise Daniel would be over here for that long. He had transitioned between France and New York for the four years Betty had been in London. he was doing stuff for MODE and the international Meade publications, to save MODE. Betty was proud of him, but she didn’t know what to do, since she wasn’t in the same boat. As far as Daniel, and everyone back at MODE knew she was still running her own magazine. She couldn’t tell him, it would let him down.  
  
But now he was going to be staying here, in London. he could just go over and see her whenever he wanted, she wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret for much longer. she was tired of keeping secrets, tired of not being able to move on because she didn’t want to break anyone’s heart again. she had only been in two relationships in the last four years, one of whom broke up with her simply because she lost her job. But, if she couldn’t save this other magazine she was going to be losing another job too.  
  
“that is big,” she sighed, plastering an artificial smile on her face, before getting another lukewarm fry from the bag.  
  
“yeah, sorry I didn’t tell you over the phone, I wanted it to be a surprise!” Daniel grinned, smiling at Betty. She raised her eyebrows at him, not really knowing what to say.  
  
This was supposed to be good, one of her best friends was moving to live with her. she had dreamt about this since arriving in London, although her dreams would often have more romantic conclusions. She knew it was wrong to play with Daniel’s heart, that is why she just let him go when she went to London. she didn’t press the issue at all, she didn’t beg for him to come back because she didn’t want to break another person’s heart.  
  
“it is!” Betty grinned, hugging Daniel again. this time he was a bit more prepared, winding his arms around her waist.  
  
“right, who wants beer?” Christina asked, putting two bottles on the table, as well as a bottle of wine.  
  
“Christina! What about William?”  
  
“he is with my mum, don’t worry. We are having some grown up time!” Christina yelled. She had made up with her mother obviously, but she didn’t get much time to herself any more, with William and the loss of Stuart.   
  
“right!” Betty grinned, smiling at Christina, and pouring out some wine, before passing a bottle to Daniel. he took it, raising his eyebrows at Christina. They started to drink, thinking about being on the verge of a party, but they were all too grown up for that. No one really did that anymore, not in Betty’s world. Even though she was the youngest of all of them, there weren’t any more fancy parties or balls she was invited to.  
  
Soon enough all of them were quite drunk, and Christina was obviously onto the secret spilling part of the evening, since she was playing a rather raunchy game of truth or dare. It even gave Daniel the giggles. Betty sat back, watching her two silly friends with a grin on her face. it didn’t matter that she had lost her proper job and was now writing for a hack magazine, it didn’t matter that she had no social life. She was with her two best friends, one of who was so drunk he probably wouldn’t take offence if she accidentally on purpose in her drunk mind, hit on him.  
Daniel stretched when it reached about midnight, while Christina was still going, it was a good thing William was staying with his grandmother, who also lived in London for a couple of days, and not just overnight.  
  
“so, I think I am going to bed,” Daniel said, yawning and stretching. Betty jolted slightly from her half asleep-drunk state to blink rapidly at Daniel.  
  
“wait,” she slurred, waving one finger in front of Daniel. “where are, you going to sleep? Christina only has three bedrooms,” Daniel looked over at Christina, who shrugged.  
  
“erm, William is out, but he has a small bed, Betty you can borrow it,” Christina stuttered, looking guilty around. Whatever plans appeared to have gone out of the window with the convenient memory loss from being drunk, or she didn’t have a plan and her drunk mind had allowed it to happen.  
  
“so, I am to sleep in Betty’s room?” Daniel squeaked, Betty too was looking outraged.  
  
“yeah, she has the biggest room, so… I don’t know. I should have thought about this when I wasn’t drunk,” Christina mumbled, lurching out of the room. Betty looked worriedly at Daniel.  
  
“you don’t have to, I am sure I can get Christina to change her mind,” Betty had sobered considerably.  
  
“it is okay, and you don’t have to sleep in William’s bed. I can sleep on the couch,”  
  
“you don’t need to do that, it is too cold anyway,”  
  
“yeah, it is. What happened to your apartment, you know, the big one?” Daniel asked, while Betty blinked anxiously. She was too drunk to keep a secret, but she didn’t want to reveal two years’ worth of pent up emotion when she was so drunk she was about to pass out.  
  
“erm… how about we talk about this in the morning, I am too drunk at the moment,” Betty hiccoughed halfway through that sentence, causing Daniel to chuckle, putting down his bottle of beer.  
  
“yeah, so I am going to bed,” Daniel yawned again, walking up the stairs, Betty followed him into her room. “Betty, what are you doing in here?”  
  
“I need to get my pyjamas,” Betty said, pushing her way in front of Daniel, getting into the room, while he raised his eyebrows, especially at the pyjamas she brought out. They were a far cry from the cotton ones she used to wear when she was still at MODE.  
  
“jeez, Betty.” He said, seeing the silky nightgown she held in her hands.  
  
“I will clear out some drawer space for you, once Christina decides where I am going to sleep,” Betty said, somewhat bitterly, getting out her clothes and exiting the room. this was going to be a long visit.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!

The last four years had been strange for Daniel, he had tried to finally accept that Betty was gone, and while she may come back he shouldn’t get his hopes up. He eventually contacted her since he realised that he couldn’t live without her, which warranted him showing up there, but Betty had a great job, an amazing apartment, and… a boyfriend. He could see that she had moved on, but he really needed to.  
  
It didn’t mean he would cut off all ties from Betty, they were better than that. She was still one of his best friends, she deserved to have her friends treat her well. Daniel could do that, he loved her. he would do it for Betty. So, he turned himself to philanthropy, helping people with cancer by making a charity in molly’s name, he aided MODE France, helping his sister at the same time.  he had enough with screwing around and thinking only of himself. Even though there were people who could use a bit more that, otherwise they would run themselves into the ground, but for Daniel, his entire life was spent thinking only of others.   
  
He did it, he had helped people, had several somewhat more successful relationships (in these they didn’t screw him over on national television, burn his apartment down, or die of cancer) and ended up with a fiancée who was smart and beautiful, and despite being somewhat bossy wasn’t a complete bitch like Sofia was.   
  
But he was back in London now, not just because of having to help run MODE UK, or Betty. But, because he wanted to find his daughter. Melissa wanted kids, he wasn’t sure, he wanted to make sure Rosa was okay first, even if that meant not getting to speak to her, but ensuring that she was happy and safe and loved. He missed Rosa tremendously, and although he and Betty still spoke they didn’t know much about each other’s lives. Well, she knew a lot about his, since often they skyped while his mother was around, thus causing Betty to have a full status update. But, he didn’t even know if she had a boyfriend, or why the hell she was living with Christina.  
  
All he knew was that he was going to have a massive hangover in the morning.  
  
Daniel woke up to the sound of traffic, and the smell of home cooking. He wondered what was going on, as he was in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar place. But, as the headache slammed into him he fully comprehended what was going on, well, he remembered getting drunk last night with Betty and Christina. Now he woke up in Betty’s room, in this incredibly cold house. Now that he was sober more questions had formed in his mind that didn’t seem to register with him yesterday, probably with the anticipation of seeing Betty again.  
  
Such as:  
  
Why was she living with Christina in this very cold house, when she had a perfectly good apartment further towards where she worked? Daniel had heard that Christina had moved back to London, with her son after Stuart’s death, but he didn’t know why Betty had come along with her. Daniel wondered what had happened with Betty’s job since he heard some rumours that Dunne publications had cut some magazines, and Betty’s was one of them. But she had never mentioned any of that when they spoke. She never really opened up about much, but he assumed if it was something as big as losing her job she would have mentioned it.  
  
Daniel felt his temples throb as he crawled into the tiny bathroom adjoining the bedroom. Maybe Betty moved here to have more space, her previous apartment might have been funded by Dunne publications, but it wasn’t the biggest place in the world, and he got the impression that Betty was quite lonely there, despite having a boyfriend. All the other occupants of the apartment building were all high-powered business people, much like what Betty aspired to become, only with less amiability than some of the rudest socialites.  
  
He got on jeans and a t-shirt, washing his face in the bathroom, his mind racing to think about Betty being in there… naked. The whole room smelt like her and her vanilla perfume, it made him dizzy just walking in. he decided to come out of his dream land and face the real world, wondering if anyone would actually be in at this time in the morning. He glanced at his phone, it was 10am, he hadn’t slept to midday like he originally thought.  
  
Ambling down two flights of stairs and into the kitchen he was surprised to see Betty sitting at the kitchen table, sipping on her coffee while typing something on her laptop, she looked up when he came in.  
  
“Daniel!” she smiled, pushing over a coffee cup to him as he sat down at the table, rubbing his temples. He glanced over at Betty, she looked as if she was dressed to set out for work. In a peach blouse and a black skirt that looked a lot tighter than the ones she wore before. he chastised himself for looking, but he was only a man, and it was well known for him to have very little control when it came to matters of Betty.  
  
“hey,” he croaked, and Betty bit her lip, smudging some of the lipstick.  
  
“are you okay? You look awful,”  
  
“I feel awful, I shouldn’t have drunk that much,” Daniel admitted, trying to peek at her laptop, which Betty hastily guarded, slamming the lid down.  
  
“I know, I hope I didn’t wake you, I forgot to get clothes this morning.” Betty smiled slightly, pulling her handbag onto her chair, grinning at him.  
  
“no, no you didn’t. are you going into work today Betty?”  
  
“yeah, my meeting was cancelled, so I thought I would stick around until you woke up. I have to go soon, though. But, are you okay with staying here?” Betty asked, seeming nervous about the question. Daniel could understand why, she clearly wasn’t telling him something she should have.  
  
“yeah, but Betty… I need to talk to you,” Daniel took a sip of his coffee, relishing the taste. To him it always tasted like the morning.  
  
“I have to go now, bye Daniel!” she said, dropping her laptop into her bag and running off. Daniel sat there, somewhat confused, Betty was never one to just run away from her problems, she generally confronted them head on. something was going on.   
  
He had spent the whole day trying to salvage MODE UK. Things were beyond dreadful there, with half the staff having no knowledge of the magazine industry or how to even write for one. Not to mention the computers were at least ten years old, and twice as useless as the staff.   
He spent the morning drowning himself in coffee, since having a hangover and an assistant who he was pretty sure was twelve years old and completely useless. No wonder MODE was struggling, if the staff spent a month deciding what features presentation to do. He just hoped Betty would have a better time with it. maybe he could call her.  
  
Daniel sat at the large glass table in the conference room, it was close to quitting time, however half the staff had gone to lunch and hadn’t come back. All the other desks were a mess of candy wrappers and pornography whose occupants had the misfortune of being dug through by Daniel.  because of that, and the unfriendly memo Daniel sent out telling people to actually do their jobs Daniel wasn’t the most popular person there. Still, that wasn’t on his mind when it came to the end of the day, he was packing up his briefcase when his temporary assistant, or the assistant to the previous EIC (that he had fired), sent a call through to him.  
  
“your wife is on line 1,” she called out, while Daniel sighed and fully prepared to have a call from Melissa who had been mistaken, or told the receiver that she was his wife a few times.  
  
“put her through,” Daniel called, holding the phone up, only to have the stressed voice of Betty through the phone.  
  
“wait- I didn’t say I was his wife!” Betty said over the phone, while Daniel chuckled at how adorable she was when she was flustered.   
  
“hey Betty,”  
  
“hi,” she said weakly, while Daniel could practically hear the embarrassment emanating from her.    
  
“are you okay?” he asked, although he had a pretty good guess of why Betty was freaking out.  
  
“yeah, whoever answered the phone was useless. I wanted to say if you would like to go out to dinner, Christina is at her mother’s house, and I thought since you are staying with us?” she asked nervously. Daniel grinned again, only Betty would be anxious over asking a person who was staying with her out to dinner. He almost had the nerve to jokily ask her if they would be going as friends… or? But Daniel knew better than to open that window, since the last time that had happened they wound up on a beach in the Bahamas, making love.   
  
“yeah of course, do you have any place you want to go?” Daniel asked, knowing exactly where her favourite place was to eat, a little Italian place on the corner around from her (old) apartment.  
  
“yeah, it is the little Italian place on-,”  
  
“I remember,” he smiled over the phone as he heard a little squeal of excitement, Betty got excited over a lot of things, even something as simple as Daniel remembering her favourite places.  
  
“do you? that is so cool, you only visited twice,” Betty squealed down the phone, then he heard the sound of her clearing her throat and speaking with a calmer tone. “Daniel, how did things go today? The person who answered your phone was useless!”  
  
“yeah, she was the assistant to the old EIC, who I fired this morning,” Daniel sighed. He hated the whole firing scheme, even when the staff were completely useless it wasn’t nice to be hated by the majority of them.  
  
“oh, someone is playing hard ball,”   
  
“thanks Betty. Anyway, she is more useless than the old EIC. I told her this morning to transfer all calls to me, and when they ring up and ask for the EIC she transfers them to her old boss, who I am pretty sure is going to start sending me death threats,” Daniel sighed, remembering the public ordeal of the firing. It wasn’t his fault that the people at MODE UK were nosier than the one’s at MODE NY and all gathered around like it was some sort of circus. Goodness knows what they would have done when Betty was at MODE.  
  
“she isn’t standing behind you, is she?” Betty asked, her voice practically bursting with laughter. Daniel looked behind him, Betty’s joking getting to him, but all he saw was an empty office.  
  
“no, she isn’t. thank god, she would probably make that go viral, like someone else I know,” Daniel said somewhat snidely, still remembering that incident with the blobby awards. Betty had posted some rather unsavoury things about him, since he had ‘humiliated’ her by saying how she was so sweet and innocent. Of course, Daniel knew that wasn’t true, he had been thinking back to their most recent night in the Bahamas at that point, but he wanted to get back at Betty for going back to matt.   
  
“hey, I was annoyed at you, I thought you had gotten over it,” Betty said somewhat crossly down the phone. Daniel still felt like chuckling at how adorable Betty was.  
  
“I have! I was just making a point, anyway, I should be finished in about 15 minutes, do you want me to come pick you up?” Daniel asked, he wanted to see her offices anyway, and perhaps have a chat with Mr. Dunne about why she wasn’t living in an apartment with central heating instead of a small house that was falling down. maybe it would be better to discuss it with Betty first otherwise Lindsey may tell Betty before Daniel had a chance to ask himself. That wouldn’t be very good when he had just arrived, to lose Betty’s trust on the second day.   
  
The line was quiet for a moment, before he heard the rapid sucking in of breath that usually accompanied a lie, well on Betty’s end. “Daniel, you know what? I have just left for today, I will go home first, I have to… erm… freshen up,” Betty said the latter part as if it came as a surprise to even her.  
  
“okay, I will meet you back at the house,” Daniel felt more anxious about seeing Betty now, which was ridiculous! This was his best friend, who he hadn’t seen for two years, he should be able to talk to her, and he would… if there weren’t the unanswered questions amounted from two years’ worth of sparse contact to address.  He decided he would have to face the problem head on, it was Betty. She wasn’t normally one for avoidance. He left the offices, holding all his belongings close to him, since he didn’t trust the editors currently in the office, especially since he had just fired the well liked EIC. Who was probably well liked because he let everyone do whatever they wanted.  
  
Daniel had done a lot of growing up in the four years, he no longer had Betty to rely on and catch him if he fell. He had tried to make his own way, as much as he could while still being a Meade, which was no mean feat. He wanted to do something in molly’s memory since he felt they didn’t have enough time together, also something like that was surely able to be some kind of compensation for all the bad things he had done in his life. Mainly the partying. And booze, and drugs… if he listed any more he would need to call up his psychotherapist, who had told him to leave the past where it should belong. In the past.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!

They eventually got to go out to dinner, Betty must have frequented the restaurant quite a bit since she was well known, they even got her the preferred table, although they did remember him from when he visited last two years ago, and that was before they knew his last name. they sat to eat, Betty running her hands across the menu as she studied it.

 

“so, what would you like to eat?” she asked, smiling at Daniel. he looked over at her, confused. She had been so excited then suddenly miserable over the phone, as if something had startled her. Daniel ushered over the waiter, ordering for him and Betty who was smiling shyly across the table as if she couldn’t quite believe that he remembered what she wanted.

 

“so, I need to talk to you about something,” the tone was ominous, much like Daniel felt her answer would incur some sort of misery.

 

“yeah?” she didn’t meet his eye. This may have been normal for anyone else apart from Betty, but it wasn’t for her. Betty had always been the most forthright with him, simply because she knew there would be no point keeping anything from Daniel, it was like they could read each other’s minds and figure out what was going on. but that bond seemed to have been broken in those four years since Betty’s departure. Because he didn’t know what to think.

 

“why are you living in that house with Christina? Last time I visited you, you lived in a flat that had central heating,” Daniel felt like chuckling, but stopped himself when he saw the expression on Betty’s face. she looked as if she was trying very hard not to say something, she was definitely hiding something.

 

“well, I wanted to be there for my friend when Stuart died, you can understand,” she snipped, before her eyes widened and she looked over at Daniel apologetically, Daniel himself hadn’t fully registered what she had said. “sorry, Daniel! sorry, I didn’t mean to talk about that… anyway I needed to be there for her. also, the company had some problems, so…”

 

“I heard about that! My mom told me that some of the magazines shut down, I didn’t ask about yours since I didn’t want to upset you,” Daniel said shyly.

 

“well, they didn’t have enough money to keep up the rent, so I went to live with Christina, it is a lot bigger than my flat though,”

 

“even if it doesn’t have any central heating?” Daniel grinned.

 

“yeah… well,”

 

“Betty? Did your magazine close? I would have checked but things have been kind of busy,” Daniel felt awful about not even bothering to check on Betty’s magazine. She was still his friend, just because he had moved on romantically doesn’t mean he could just forget about her.

 

“yeah,” she looked down at the leather menu, as a single tear fell onto it.

 

“Betty! Why didn’t you tell me?” Daniel asked, his voice gentle trying to coax her out of crying any more.

 

“I didn’t want you to be disappointed, it had only lasted two years any everyone said I was making a mistake when I left for London,” Betty grimaced, more tears streaking down her face.

 

“everyone?” all the people Daniel had heard of were saying how brave Betty was, not to mention how good she would be at her job.

 

“fine, Hilda, and Papi.” She sighed somewhat sulkily as the waiter brought them wine, she downed her glass almost immediately. Daniel looked at her impressed.

 

“I doubt that, your dad was immensely proud of you!” Daniel tried to make her feel better, even daring to clasp her hand from across the table.

 

“he was scared of me moving away, anyway… I thought not only of all the people who didn’t believe in me-,”

 

“who were worried,” Daniel corrected.

 

“anyway, those who did believe in me would be even more disappointed,”

 

“they wouldn’t be disappointed,” he thought back to his earlier firings of today, since most of the staff (that he hadn’t fired) were so incompetent he may as well be doing the job on his own. “you have done really well, Betty. It isn’t just you who is struggling, MODE UK is falling apart, and I don’t think I can save it.”

 

“I heard about the public firing,” Betty said, still looking miserable. Things travel fast even between rival magazines, especially when a new, takeover EIC who is Daniel Meade arrived. Daniel had been on people’s lips especially through the publishing world, if the most notorious playboy that modern New York encountered reappeared on the social scene, doing charity work and looking to date seriously then he would be noted. Lindsay even talked about bringing him over to do some work for them, but (Betty wasn’t sure whether or not she was pleased about this) his loyalties lay with Meade. It didn’t stop Betty from pretending not to know Daniel, even though she was certain most of the staff knew the truth.

 

“yeah, well. I’m not very popular,” Daniel explained. “I don’t think they like me being the boss, but otherwise the magazine is screwed. Alexis was the one that sent me here, to see if I can help. You have done really well, Betty, I think everyone would still be proud of you, you took a risk and it worked,”

 

“I just told you that I got fired,” she said, her eyebrows constricted in what appeared to be scrutiny.

 

“I know, but you lasted two years! You moved across an ocean to start your own magazine when the magazine industry is so obviously dying,” Daniel argued, but then another thought controlled him and he had to ask that instead. “who does know?”

 

“Christina, and my family,” she said, avoiding Daniel’s gaze.

 

“were they disappointed?”

 

“no,” she said in a small voice. The same voice that had been the only tone Betty had admitted for weeks after Rosa’s adoption, Daniel wondered whether or not she still thought of their daughter every day. He wondered whether she still imagined what she would look like, whether or not she had inherited Betty’s bad eyesight, whether she still had blue eyes. Daniel wondered whether Betty would still day dream about what Rosa would want to do when she was older, whether or not she had developed a love of sports like him, or she preferred writing like her mother. He knew that if Betty had seen Rosa she would have mentioned it in her letters, instead of keeping quiet about it. this was a surprise move, so Betty wouldn’t have been waiting to spring Rosa on him, would she?

 

Daniel looked back at Betty, who was staring intensely at the red cracked leather of the menu in front of her. this was enough to jolt him back to reality. “see, you did your best… and it worked for two whole years Betty,”

 

“that was half the time I worked at MODE,” she cut in, sipping the dregs from her wine glass to make it last.

 

“it doesn’t matter, you still did amazingly well. but, what happened after? Where do you work now?”

 

“at this really crappy magazine, you know- the type you find in a doctor’s office,” she sighed, pouting.

 

“right… well at least you aren’t unemployed.” Daniel argued, Betty could be in a much worse situation, but he couldn’t help feeling as if it was his fault. He let her go, into a new job in an unstable position. if she didn’t succeed then it would all fall apart easily and the blame would be on her. she didn’t deserve that, Betty had done everything for everyone else, doing ridiculous demands in the days of being his assistant.

 

“I know, but I might as well be! The job is awful, I hate it!” Betty said passionately, looking around for the waiter who had materialised as soon as they heard betty complaining, pouring out another glass of wine for her, topping up Daniel’s as well.

 

“why are you still there?” Daniel didn’t know why anyone would stay in a job they hated… unless it was to impress someone, such as with the case of his father. He only took the job as EIC of MODE to show his father he was as good as Alex… before he was Alexis, otherwise his father would never have respected him. In hindsight, he didn’t need to do that since his father never respected him, even in his dying moments. but, this had been Betty’s dream, to run her own magazine. Surely, she wouldn’t just take whatever was left if she lost her dream job, especially if she hated her new one.

 

“I don’t have a choice; do you have any idea how hard it is to get a job in publishing?”

 

“yes, in fact I do!” Daniel grinned, watching his friend from across the table. There had been something that hung over them on the rare times they spoke over the phone, something unspoken, he guessed this was it. some stupid, mean part of him felt as if this was payback for Betty, since she left him without even discussing with the father of her child a new job, on a new continent. He knew he shouldn’t feel like that, but it was a year of suppressed hurt, while Betty still acted as if he was in the wrong when he finally turned up. They both were, but she wouldn’t admit it, maybe she didn’t have to, while Daniel was just overreacting since the woman he loved left him because she needed to move on, while he was still struggling to.

 

“right. I didn’t want to risk being totally unemployed, so I took what I could get, even if I do hate it.” she sighed again, her face only lighting up when the pizza arrived. Daniel couldn’t even smile at that, it hurt him to see his best friend so… broken. She had only cracked a smile when he said something mocking, or when the pizza arrived.

“Betty, you are friends with me, I could get you another job even if it is for a competing company,”

 

“I know, I don’t want to get my job because of nepotism,” she shuddered, blushing instantly after that since she recognised who she was talking to.

 

“yeah… that sucks,” Daniel spluttered, but he wished he hadn’t gotten his job by nepotism. He knew that even after his supposed ‘new start’ when Betty left he kept working for Meade because it hadn’t become a case of nepotism, it was him trying to help his family, those who remained anyway.

 

“sorry Daniel. it is just, I have wanted this for so long! I had to give it up when they told me, and I didn’t want to have to rely on someone else to get me a job,”

 

“Betty, I do understand. I didn’t really like being the victim of nepotism- but you got kicked out of your apartment, I could have at least done something to help you,”

 

“Daniel, you didn’t need to do anything. I only told my family and Christina because I lost the flat. See, at the time Christina was looking for somewhere to stay too. So, we pooled together the money from Stuarts death to find somewhere that was still close to Dunne. I got used to a short commute,” Betty grinned again, but there was no sparkle in her eyes that Betty had before.

 

“okay… what about anyone else, didn’t you tell them?”

 

“I don’t really have that many friends, some knew since they worked with me in my magazine,” Betty sighed “but, after I lost the job my boyfriend dumped me,” she hadn’t told Daniel that either, since it would link to the loss of her job, also Daniel would do his overprotective macho act that really annoyed her.

 

“who, john?” Daniel didn’t like the guy, and it came as no surprise that he dumped Betty when she lost her job. The guy had definitely been after Betty’s money, or status.

“yeah. He said it was because of him, and he didn’t feel like being in a long-term relationship anymore,” Daniel supressed a grin since he had a feeling about john, also he was extremely happy that Betty didn’t have a boyfriend, not that it made a difference now that he was engaged. He couldn’t just drop everything to go running after Betty the way she used to when she was his assistant. worse, his new fiancée hated Betty, and would be coming to London in a couple of weeks, until then he had to suss out what was going on with Betty.

 

“ouch, have you dated since?”

 

Betty got a pensive look on her face as she stopped eating, to stare at Daniel. “why do you care Daniel, you haven’t seen me in two years?”

 

“I am your friend, of course I care about you! and I need to know who to intimidate,”

 

“well, sorry to break it to you, but you won’t be intimidating anyone. I don’t have anyone apart from a cat in my life,” she said bitterly. Daniel got the sense that she wasn’t very happy with her new job, and living situation. It wasn’t what she had imagined, since Hilda had filled him in when he appeared at the Suarez home, moping shortly after Betty’s departure. Hilda, who must have held some sort of grudge for his lack of contact informed him all about how fabulous Betty’s new life in London was.

 

“you have a cat? I didn’t see one?” he tried to distract Betty from her misery, she didn’t deserve to be always thinking about her supposed failures.

 

“he must have been out the back,”

 

“ah, cool! What did you name him?” Daniel listened Betty talking about the cat, saying how in the other apartment they didn’t allow pets, also she wanted some company that wasn’t an over-excited six-year-old. He missed the easy back and forth between them, he missed calling up his best friend when he was drunk and stupid, just to tell her that his hair was thinning. They finished up the pizza, and before they knew it they were sitting in the darkened restaurant, where the only other people who were in there were a canoodling couple.

 

Betty finally yawned, smiling at Daniel as she wiped an imaginary smudge of grease off of her cheek. “uh! I am so tired, can we go home,”

 

“yeah… we need to sort out sleeping arrangements,” Daniel reminded Betty, since it was too late the previous night and they were too drunk to even remember what they were doing.

 

“oh, crap!” Betty put her hand to her forehead “I was supposed to buy an air mattress, I completely forgot! I was going to sleep in the living room, but the couch is too uncomfortable,” she groaned in frustration, looking only outside to the darkened streets, lit slightly by streetlamps and the light’s shining through window’s. it was too late to just go out, and buy an air mattress.

 

“why don’t you share with Christina?” Daniel didn’t even suggest for her to share with him, since there was too much history, generally in the romance department. Also, Melissa might just have an aneurysm if she found out.

“I could do, but she has a new man. He is really nice, and Christina put off dating for so long since she has William- not to mention the loss of Stuart,” Betty bit her lip, not wanting to remind Daniel of molly. His ordeal had been enough, he didn’t need to have all the problems that came with it relieved.

 

“oh, so she wouldn’t have a bed for you? right?” Daniel grinned, while Betty bit back a smile. Daniel had paid the bill a while ago, without any objection from Betty, who Daniel supposed didn’t have that much money.

 

“no, so she said to get an air mattress. Christina recently had a show, so she has a bit of extra money, she is paying for it,” Betty explained. Daniel was right, money did seem to be a bit tight, even with Christina’s designer career.

 

“doesn’t your new job pay well?”

 

“less than when I was your assistant. also, London is slightly more expensive than New York, although I don’t have to provide for Amanda, so I guess that is saving,” she shrugged her shoulders as Daniel let them out onto the street, Betty’s hands curling into fists inside her coat. “how is Amanda, anyway? Have you heard from her? I haven’t heard much apart from the occasional email since I left,” Betty tried to distract from her breath curling in the night air.

 

“yeah, me and Melissa stayed in New York recently, that is where she is flying over from,” Daniel explained, while Betty raised her eyebrows. She knew Daniel had been travelling between France and New York for a while, keeping MODE afloat both sides of the Atlantic, but she didn’t realise he had stayed in New York for an extended period of time.

 

“I didn’t realise,”

 

“yeah, I have helped Alexis at MODE France, but sometimes my mom needed some help too. And Melissa just got a freelance job there- but she didn’t realise she would have to drop it so suddenly. I mean I didn’t realise MODE UK was in that much trouble- you should have let me go to fashion week,”

 

“Daniel that was four years ago,” Betty wrapped her coat harder around her, wishing she had something thicker than a woollen pea coat to wear.

 

“I know, just… I didn’t think it was that bad! I mean, half the staff are either stupid or drunk,”

 

“Daniel!” Betty scolded.

 

“what?! It is the truth!” Daniel had spent the whole day converging with HR to try and deduce what was going on with their main editors. It was understandable for the assistants to be a bit ditzy (he had Amanda as his assistant before, he still remembered the piles of letters deducible by ass size) but it didn’t stop him finding a stash of alcohol nearly as impressive as his mother’s in her drinking days. “I saw Amanda a couple of times, she asked about you. she is with Tyler now,”

 

“really? I thought they broke it off when he went into rehab,”

 

“no, he got better after that. Amanda and he picked up where they left off,” it no longer bothered Daniel, who since had forgotten about the benefits of a relationship with Amanda, focusing instead on how much it hurt to lose Betty.

 

“that was good, I haven’t spoken to her or marc in ages,”

 

“yeah, Amanda and Tyler are expecting,”

 

“a baby?” Betty’s eyes bugged out as she stopped Daniel on the sidewalk.

 

“yeah…” he wasn’t sure how he felt about having a niece or a nephew that would be the child of the woman he used to have a causal relationship with, although it might not be weirder than the kid you thought to be your son turned out to be your nephew because your brother, now sister was actually the biological father… mother. Only, they hadn't actually told DJ, at his grandparents insistence.

 

“did they get married? I didn’t get an invite to any wedding?”

 

“no, not yet. Amanda is pushing for him to propose though,” they were close to the house then, Betty patting down her pockets to make sure she remembered her keys.  They got in, Betty wishing the house wasn’t unoccupied, although she was enjoying some time with Daniel when it was just them.

 

“do you think he will?”

 

“I don’t know, it is hard to tell with Tyler, since Amanda and he were on and off a lot. I gave her your phone number, though,”

 

“when? Because I haven’t heard from her in years. Your mom gave me updates,” Betty smiled, getting into the kitchen along with Daniel. they looked around for more hydration, their eyes only falling on the half-drunk bottle of wine.

 

“did she? Anyway, just before I left, so she might not have had a chance to. The pregnancy has been really hard on her,”

 

“oh, poor Amanda,” Daniel knew that any subjects of families, was a bit of a sore point for Betty since she wanted Rosa back so much, and didn’t seem to be able to know what to do next to even uncovering who their daughter was then.

 

“Betty… where are you going to sleep?” Daniel tried to change the subject, although he knew it wasn’t going to get him very many places as they were still undecided.

 

“probably on the couch,”

 

“why don’t you share with me?” Daniel asked, putting his coat on the back of one of the colourful chair’s in the kitchen.

 

“that is an awful idea,” Betty didn’t even try to spare his feelings on that one “we will probably end up sleeping together again.”

 

“isn’t that the whole point, so you have somewhere to sleep?”

 

“Daniel, you know what I mean,” Betty replied exasperatedly, still glaring at Daniel. Daniel smiled, he loved messing with Betty, even if she looked as if she was about to slap him.

 

“yeah, maybe we could top and tail. I want you to have a space to sleep,”

 

“I can just borrow Christina’s bed,” Betty argued again, although as she said it she could hear the sound of a lock turning in the door and the sound of little Williams shout.

 

“aunty Betty! Aunty Betty!” he stopped short when he got to the door, not having seen Daniel before. he went to Betty and buried his head in her coat.

 

“hey, little man! This is aunty Betty’s friend, Daniel. he is really nice,” Daniel couldn’t believe he once thought this baby to be his little brother, only to have that fantasy shattered. In some way, he was quite relieved, since he didn’t want to share a relative with Wilhelmina.

 

“nice to meet you,” Daniel bent down to shake Williams hand, while he shyly hid in the flaps of Betty’s coat. Christina smiled as she walked in, holding a rucksack as well as a bag made from her own designs.

 

“sorry, he is a little shy. William, this is Daniel, he is my friend too,” with that William shook Daniel’s hand while Daniel grinned. Betty knew how much he wanted children, and although she also had a feeling that Daniel needed to find Rosa first. He spoke about his first child as if it was something that he was missing, although Betty felt the same way about Rosa too.

 

“right, goodnight!” he said and ran upstairs, leaving Betty grinning at Daniel. Christina smiled at the pair, sensing the nervous energy between them.

 

“phew, me mum is going mad with questions. She wants to know if you are still living with me,”

 

“oh god!” Betty knew Christina’s mother wasn’t exactly the most welcoming to Betty, especially when Betty lost her job as an EIC.

 

“it’s fine. She was less of a bitch today. Did you get that air mattress?” Christina asked, while Betty bit her lip and shook her head.

 

“it is fine, I am going to sleep on the… couch,” Betty looked at Daniel with a glare instructing him to be quiet.

 

“you do know the couch is freezing and uncomfortable,”

 

“I am sorting it!” Betty cut off her friend and ran upstairs, she knew that Christina would have a few choice comments about her sleeping arrangements.

She did end up sleeping in the same bed as Daniel, even though they didn’t top-tail. She didn’t mind, but she felt closer to her best friend than she had in years. She had missed Daniel in the four years they had been apart, and then having to listen to him constantly talk about the irritating Melissa, she wished Melissa could see them now. they weren’t touching, but Betty could still feel the sparks of electricity between them.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own ugly Betty!

Betty looked through the glass of her lower floor office window, the one thing she thought she wouldn’t miss as other perks was the view, but it turned out she did. She missed being able to look across rooftops to see the whole city. She missed the silver backs of traffic as it crawled through the narrow streets. One thing Betty adored about London was how old the city was, with its winding streets, compared to the grid of New York. it did make it a little more difficult to navigate, but it was beautiful.  
  
Daniel was coming to see her in her new offices that day, afterwards they were going to do some sightseeing, Betty would pretend that she hadn’t been fantasising about the man himself throughout the entire night, which didn’t help when he was sleeping right next to her.  
  
Daniel walked through the offices, noting how it was unlike MODE’s or even the magazine Betty ran before. they were drab, looking more like the accounting department than a magazine. Betty stepped out of a cubicle, dressed in a black dress, with a red butterfly belt on. Daniel chuckled.  
  
“hey, nice belt,”  
  
“do you like it? I found it at this amazing market!” Betty said, grinning at Daniel and twirling slightly.  
  
“yeah, I missed seeing your outfit’s every day,” Daniel said, his tone just slightly less than patronising. Betty grinned, blushing, before she lightly slapped him on the arm.  
  
“thank you for that! Anyway, I thought we might like to go to the British museum,” Betty slipped her bag over her shoulder, smiling at Daniel.  
  
“I like that, also Melissa called, she is coming this week instead of next. But, we are looking for houses here,”  
  
“houses?” Daniel looked awkward when Betty questioned him.  
  
“yeah, we are getting married soon, and I don’t know how long I am going to be here. So, we thought we would start looking at houses,”  
  
“right,” Betty gulped. She hadn’t officially met Melissa; however, she had spoken to her over the phone, and seen pictures of her. she could have been a model, so in short Daniel’s usual type. She knew why that statement gave her so much pain, since it was hard to just give up on loving someone when you never stopped. She told Daniel to move on, and he did. She couldn’t. in four years, she had two failed relationships, two people that she dumped since she couldn’t do it anymore, she couldn’t keep lying. So, when she was fired, and john dumped her, she was all prepared to go crying to Daniel, she wanted her best friend back. The same week he dropped the news that he had met someone, and preceded to blather on about Melissa for half an hour. At that point Betty dropped her phone and didn’t speak to Daniel for an entire week until it was ‘repaired’.  
  
They stepped out, walking through crowds as Daniel watched people strolling past the pavements, their hands in their coat pockets.  
“I remember when I went to London when I was in boarding school,”  
  
“you went to London?” Daniel didn’t talk much about boarding school, mainly because Betty didn’t really want to hear the tales of what all the boys got up to then.  
  
“yeah, we broke up in October for a two-week half term since we were in private school, so we got longer breaks,” Daniel explained, while Betty bumped into him deliberately on the sidewalk.  
  
“lucky, our half terms were only a week!”  
  
“aw, poor Betty. That is the public-school system for you,” Daniel looked smugly over at Betty who narrowed her eyes.   
  
“spoilt little rich boy,” she retaliated, only shutting up when they got inside the tent to have their bags checked.   
  
“very funny,” Daniel handed over his bag to be checked, before they walked into the museum together. Betty resisted the urge to grab a hold of Daniel’s hand for comfort as she often did when they were together, whether or not it was in public.   
  
“wow, Daniel would you look at that,” Betty pointed at some of the art when she felt someone run into her, Betty swiftly turned around, hearing Daniel call for her, but ignoring him as it was a child that had ran into her. the little girl had dropped something, so Betty bent down to pick it up. It was the same necklace she had, the one she gave to Rosa. Betty’s heart leapt, thinking of Rosa, but she heard the shout of a woman, and remembered that these necklaces could be bought easily on the internet. Her dream was further distanced from reality when a matron type person strode over to them, with the little girl standing in front of Betty. She didn’t look at her face, instead handed the necklace back and ran after Daniel.  
  
He looked at her curiously when she appeared by his side. “what was that about?”  
  
“oh, she dropped her necklace,” Betty said, shrugging. She didn’t tell Daniel that the necklace was the same one she gave to Rosa, she didn’t want to get Daniel’s hopes up for nothing. She looked back at the little girls, the one who dropped the necklace was standing next to a blonde girl.   
  
“cool, you just seemed a bit spaced out,” Daniel chuckled, prodding Betty. She blinked, turning her head back to him.  
  
“yeah, I am so exhausted, you snore,” Betty came up with the first believable lie she could think of, well, it wasn’t too far from the truth. Daniel did snore.   
  
“Why didn’t you tell me? you know I would have rolled over for you” he fussed over her, running his hands over her collarbone unconsciously. Betty swiped them away, since, in his panic his patting down became a bit more like groping.  
  
“Daniel, I am fine! It isn’t the end of the world, just I don’t want to have to listen to you snore any more, I think I will get an air mattress,”  
  
“hey, don’t blame it on me!” Daniel chuckled, while Betty leant into him, Daniel winding his arm around her. it was no wonder that they got mistaken as a normal couple quite frequently, Betty thought, although it was bittersweet. Melissa wasn’t the type to give up her man easily, betty had read several interviews saying it was her determination and not her socialite upbringing that brought her to the top.   
  
Betty moved away from Daniel, putting her hands quickly in her pockets as Daniel bit his lip and stared at her “do you want to go home?”  
  
“I’m fine, and you would say anything to get out of going to a museum. Come on, I am going to educate you,” Betty joked, pulling on Daniel’s coat arm.  
  
“erm, I went to Harvard!”  
  
“prove you didn’t spend your entire time partying, and trying to score-,” Daniel cut Betty off with a shush when the small group of children walked past. Betty quickly blushed and covered her mouth, however moving onto the next exhibit.   
  
They got back to the house, where Daniel immediately got out his laptop and started to skype Melissa. Betty sat back on the couch, having actually remembered an air mattress, which they had picked up on the way home- along with milk and bread. Betty was still thinking of the museum, she had seen the little girl again, and had almost fainted. She had dark hair, with blue eyes… and red glasses. It looked like how Betty had imagined Rosa, not just because she was talking to the blonde girl that reminded her of Betty and Amanda, but she was the one with the necklace.  
  
Betty didn’t tell Daniel, who despite wanting to find Rosa, might accuse her of being ridiculous. She couldn’t bear the scrutiny from him too. Ever since Rosa was adopted she had always dreamt about finding her baby again, but she would have Daniel’s full support. Now Daniel would be with Melissa, who had made it quite clear that as much as she simpered about Daniel’s other family, it was obvious that if Rosa turned up on Melissa’s doorstep she wouldn’t have a place with them.  
  
But, it couldn’t be Rosa, since it was a boarding school that was taking the girls around the museum, Betty had heard the matron shouting across the room. that couldn’t be possible, Rosa had been adopted by a nice couple who both looked like models, she wasn’t in a boarding school, unless they sent her there. Betty couldn’t imagine doing that to a child so young. She just wanted to know.   
  
Betty had finished blowing up the air mattress, these doubts circling in her mind. she heard Daniel’s shout for her to come into the kitchen, so she ran in, swiping her hair off her face.  
  
“what is wrong?” she ran back over to the table, then her eyes snapped to the computer screen where Daniel was skyping with Melissa. Betty’s eyes widened. It was Melissa. She had seen photos of her both professional and personal ones that Daniel had taken as photo snapshots, but she had never seen her over skype. She was really beautiful, even if she did look as if she had just woken up. Her blonde hair was slightly mussed, but it just looked as if it had been mussed professionally. Betty looked at the image of her camera, seeing how she didn’t look anything like beautiful. Her glasses were skewwhiff on her face, while her hair was in complete disarray.  
  
“hey, Betty,” Melissa drawled, while Daniel pushed her into the chair.   
  
“hey,” Betty looked around at Daniel, who smiled and leant down to say something.  
  
“me and Melissa said since we didn’t know how long we would be here, she thought we would stay here with you guys. I need to talk to Alexis, to ask whether or not I was staying on, or they were getting another EIC for MODE UK.”  
  
“here?” Betty’s voice was a tone about squeaky. She didn’t know what Christina would say about that, and Betty didn’t really want to spend any extra time sleeping on an air mattress.   
  
“yeah… if that is okay with you? Daniel has already asked Christina,” Melissa explained while Betty gritted her teeth. Christina probably agreed because she would take any opportunity to watch Betty get tortured.   
  
“it’s fine.” Betty said, trying slightly to organise her hair.  
  
“don’t worry about that, I know I look awful,” she patted her own silky blonde curls down. Betty grimaced at when Daniel made kissy faces at the camera saying how beautiful she looked.  
  
“you can stay, how long do you think it will be?” Betty asked, pulling a pen to her side and getting a piece of paper to sit in front of her. she didn’t know why she was taking notes, but as much as she loved Daniel she didn’t want him and his new fiancée (who didn’t like her) staying in her bedroom, while she slept on an air mattress in a freezing living room. so, she was taking notes to see how long it was going to take for them to leave.  
  
“Betty, I said we don’t know, since I am not sure whether or not we are going to be staying in London, or Alexis is getting another person in. if we are staying we probably are going to stay here, until we get a new house or Christina kicks us out,”  
  
“okay, sorry,” Betty still blushed, even though Daniel’s voice was gentle. It might have had more to do with his hand resting along the back of her chair, since they were in such close contact.   
  
“anyway, I was thinking, are there any jobs over at Dunne?” she asked, while Betty looked around at Daniel. Betty knew that Melissa was had taken a job doing freelance work in New York, but since they might be moving to London she may want something more permanent.  
  
“I… erm,” Betty didn’t know whether or not Daniel had told Melissa about her magazine failing.  
  
“Melissa, Dunne publishing doesn’t have many offers, but I am sure Betty could get you something,” Daniel smiled at Betty. Betty hadn’t exactly got the information of how Melissa felt about her off of Daniel. she had spoken to her on the phone, getting the impression that she wasn’t overly fond of Betty. But, Betty had to ask Mrs. Meade for the full story. Melissa didn’t like Betty, as Betty was Daniel’s first love, taking the opportunity to have Daniel’s first child away from her. Mrs. Meade had explained that it wasn’t very likely for Daniel to not have already fathered a child, since he was commonly known as a man whole. Strangely, that didn’t make Betty feel any better.   
  
“yeah, I am sure,” Melissa gave a smug half smile, reminiscent of the ones Amanda used to give Betty in the first year of her working at MODE.  
  
“okay, then. Bye, love you lots babe,” she smiled at Daniel, before blowing a kiss and disconnecting. Betty so badly wanted Melissa to have an ulterior motive, like she was using Daniel. but she didn’t seem to want to do that, her family were rich, so she didn’t need to use Daniel for his money. Betty could see the ulterior motive of using Daniel to advance her career, but when she met him she was an EIC/model, giving it up to pursue a happy family life with Daniel.  
  
“so, that was Melissa,” Daniel smiled warmly at Betty, who nodded in response. Betty wondered whether or not the quiet conversation that had been going on between Daniel and Melissa was about Betty. Betty didn’t want to work with someone who secretly hated her, especially if they ended up with a better job than her. although on your resume ‘retiring to have a family’ looked a lot better than being made redundant.  
  
“yeah, she seems nice.”  
  
“about the job?” Daniel sat across from Betty on the table, while Betty looked at Daniel’s laptop still.  
  
“I will talk to Mr. Dunne in the morning,” she said quickly, passing the laptop over to Daniel, just as a skype call came up on the screen.  
  
“it is Amanda, Betty! Do you want to speak to her?” the truth was Betty was a little bit annoyed about Amanda never contacting her, since they had lived together for a while (Betty had taken Amanda in when she was evicted and thrown out by building security). Then for four years of her life she didn’t speak to her.  
  
“sure,” Betty couldn’t think of a way to get out of it, especially with Daniel looking at her expectantly. Betty sat in the chair instead, smiling at the screen. Amanda’s face popped up on the screen, splitting into a broader grin when she saw Betty.  
  
“Betty! Oh, my god!” she smiled, jumping up and down in her seat. Her baby bump was obvious, which led to another rush of emotion through Betty. She couldn’t believe Amanda was going to be a mother.  
  
“Amanda! Hi,” Betty responded, somewhat awkwardly.  
  
“what happened to you? I asked Mrs. Meade, but she didn’t tell me much. I tried to call, but it said the number didn’t work,” she seemed worried, although it was obvious Betty was fine.  
  
“oh, which number where you using?” Betty asked, while looking at Amanda, who held her phone up to her face and read off the number. It was Betty’s old one.  
  
“that is my old one, Amanda,” she sighed, but smiled. Betty realised that Amanda had tried to contact her, so the blame didn’t lie with her.  
  
“oh, right! Well, we need to catch up, I’m pregnant,” Amanda exclaimed, where Betty pretended to be surprised, although she had been briefed on Amanda’s new life by Daniel. Amanda and her discussed pregnancy for a long time since that, while Daniel did paperwork in the background.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty.

The week passed slowly, Betty had thought about returning to the British museum again, wondering if that little girl was Rosa, even though it was a stupid thing to even consider. She didn’t know how old that child was, and there were loads of people in the world. It might just have been the desperation to find Rosa again, but it didn’t make sense, the couple that adopted her may have not been poor, but they didn’t have enough money to send Rosa off to boarding school.  
  
Betty spent days thinking about it, also trying to distract herself from the dread of Melissa’s arrival, while Daniel between work, and fitting in activities that he and Betty could do.  
  
He flopped down onto the couch, next to Betty who was in the middle of a new story for the magazine. Although it may have a scarce readership, and the magazine didn’t really highlight anything in particular Betty thought she could use it to her advantage. Seeing Daniel again had reminded her of her MODE days, where she would do anything to raise a bit of awareness. She was trying to think of a way to pitch the idea of the alternative fashion show, about what happened at MODE.  
  
“so… what do you want to do today?” Daniel asked, placing leaflets over Betty’s hands which were on the keyboard.  
  
“I have a lot to do Daniel, maybe we could go out for dinner or something,”  
  
“I haven’t been to see the London eye yet,” he argued, pulling her hands off of the keyboard. Betty didn’t resist. She had to finish the article, however this was their last night before Melissa arrived. Betty didn’t like being the third wheel on a couple’s day trip.  
  
“London eye it is! And then… dinner?”  
  
“really? What about having a lot to do?”  
  
“I can drop that for you,” Betty grinned at him, while Daniel leant over to high five her. they had resumed their friendship; however, things were different. Betty was no longer Daniel’s assistant, there was no window open for them to resume their relationship, so that made things somewhat less awkward. There were no more stolen glances, since Daniel had effectively moved on from that, much more than Betty had ever done with any of the other’s.  
  
They got to the London eye, where they lined up in the freezing cold. Daniel moved closer to Betty to retain body heat, rubbing her small hands in his much larger ones. Betty had forgotten to grab a scarf, so she turned up the collar on her coat to protect her from the chilly wind. It was dark now, as they waited for the long line to shorten. They finally got onto the little pod, where Daniel pressed his hands against the glass like an overexcited little boy.  
  
There were other people on board the pod, a stout woman dressed from clothes that looked as if they were from the nineteen fifties, with two small children who ran excitedly to the other end of the pod, re-enacting Daniel behaviour, and pressing their hands onto the glass as well. Betty chuckled, looking towards the woman who brought the children into the pod. They were the only ones in that pod as Betty watched out of the pod.  
  
“I cannot believe you haven’t been on it before, 40 years old, and never,”  
  
“hey! I was doing other stuff,” Daniel argued. They hadn’t spoken much about Melissa, since whenever Daniel brought the subject up Betty found a way to tactfully change it. Betty didn’t want to spend their time talking about that, she wanted to spend time with her best friend.  
  
“yeah, partying, hey Meade?”  
  
“shut it, Sua-,”  
  
“nuh-uh, you are in the wrong here. You spent most of your time chasing women and then complain when your millions aren’t put to a correct use,” she scolded, pressing against Daniel’s side. he smiled and put his arm around her. they watched the city from the pod, but Betty could see the reflection of the two girls in the window. One of them was shorter than the others, with curly black hair and glasses. The other girl was taller and blonde, with a smirk on her face even though she was nice enough to the other girl. It reminded Betty of her and Amanda.  
  
“see that is just mean,” Daniel said, squeezing Betty’s side.  
  
“sorry,”  
  
“so, are you excited about Melissa coming?” Daniel said, smiling at Betty. Betty had spoken to Lindsay a couple of days after the skype call to see if there were any jobs, especially since Daniel met her after hours and stared her into asking. It turned out they did have an editor position, in one of the other fashion magazines. One that Dunne had offered Betty a position to write for when she lived in New York. it still didn’t mean that Betty wanted to talk about her.  
  
“I don’t think this is the best time to talk about it,” Betty argued, turning around so she could see the rest of the pod. Daniel didn’t look back at her, however she felt one of his hands on her shoulder before he turned away.  
  
“Betty, if you aren’t comfortable,”  
  
“what gave you that impression?” she asked, while her voice was cold. One of the girls turned around, talking to her friend. Betty couldn’t hear their voices since they were whispering, while the woman watched on fondly.  
  
“Madison, I can’t see without my glasses,”  
  
“I want to try them on, I think I look better in them,” she pouted and Betty fought the urge to snicker. “Jane, do you have a mirror?” she asked. The woman shook her head.  
  
“Madison, you know I don’t,” then the little girl turned to Betty, who was watching their interaction, while still ignoring Daniel.  
  
“do you?” she asked Betty, who nodded. She got the mirror out of the bag, smiling at the little girl as she handed her the mirror.  
  
“what do you think, Rosa?” Madison pouted, before handing over the mirror to Betty. Betty’s heart stopped, looking at Rosa. She looked like her, even down to the red glasses, but she had blue eyes… blue eyes. Betty felt her heart stop, and then jump again. suddenly Betty didn’t feel so good, which was timed in conjuncture with the stopping of the pod. Betty fell back onto the wooden seat, where the woman Jane was sitting.  
She saw the girl, Rosa. She was stunned. Could this be her daughter? She looked like a mix between her and Daniel, she looked like the little girl from the museum, and the woman was the same too. The little girl who had the same necklace as her, the little girl who went to a private school, which was also a boarding school judging by their uniforms. Daniel hadn’t had the same thought processes as her, since he was still looking out of the window, unaware of the revelation.  
  
Betty sat on the bench, feeling faint while the pod kept on moving. It eventually was time to disembark, while Betty was still feeling shaken. She didn’t know what to do. This girl looked like she had always imagined Rosa to be, she had the same name. Betty felt slightly sick, she couldn’t just ask whether or not this kid was adopted, she probably wouldn’t know anyway, and Betty couldn’t ruin whatever relationship she had with her family, especially if it wasn’t likely to be very good. the girl’s parents sent her away to boarding school. The pod stopped, while the others got out Daniel made to leave the pod. Betty didn’t want to move, she couldn’t.  
  
Betty tried to stand up but she didn’t know what to do, she didn’t know whether or not it was a mirage produced by longing. She tried to stand up, but her legs felt like jelly underneath her. Betty, found she couldn’t stand up, instead stayed sitting down. Daniel noticed Betty wasn’t moving and walked over to her.  
  
“Betty, come on! we need to get off. Are you mad at me?” Betty didn’t speak, instead shook her head, not looking at Daniel.  
  
“I don’t feel so good,” suddenly Daniel was at her side, gently coaxing her to look at him, however Betty averted her gaze.  
  
“no? what is wrong?”  
  
“I don’t,” Betty swallowed, unable to complete the sentence. She could stand up, and started to get out of the pod before they kicked them out. Betty got outside, feeling fainter than ever, while Daniel caught up.  
  
“Betty, please, I can tell when you are mad! What are you mad about? Is it Melissa? Because we could just stay in a hotel, I just thought it would be nice for you two to get to know each other,” he argued, walking along with Betty, who was hoping the night air might clear her head.  
  
“you know what would be nice?” Betty asked, before she knew what she was saying.  
  
“Betty, please just tell me what I have done,”  
  
“no!” Betty said, the tears finally spurting down her cheeks. She felt very lightheaded now, her mind whirring, and wondering if it was all made up. Betty wondered if she was going to faint in the street, however she didn’t want to rely on Daniel. sometimes she had to, though. She turned back to Daniel, walking up to him. he looked perplexed.  
  
“Betty what is going on? you were fine until a few minutes ago, when we were up there. What is going on?”  
  
“I don’t feel so good,” Betty said, moving into Daniel’s arms, she knew she couldn’t continue on her own, but she wasn’t sure she wanted to talk about the little girl. She was certain she didn’t want to talk about it. “can you take me home?” Betty asked, while Daniel hailed a cab.  
  
They got in the front door, Betty felt less shaky, although she still felt as if it was a dream. That little girl had been Rosa, but why was she with that woman if she was at boarding school. Maybe it wasn’t the same girl, if not, why did she have the same necklace. Betty was totally confused, but was sure she didn’t want to share any of it. she would just have to suck it up, not mention it to Daniel. she would have to go on, live her life with Daniel and Melissa. She had only spoken to Melissa a few times, the woman never showed any outward dislike, however Betty felt as if it was somewhat better for someone to be mean to your face, instead of going behind your back.  
  
“are you okay?” Daniel asked, literally carrying her inside.  
  
“I think so, I don’t like heights,” Betty lied. She didn’t mind heights, after all she had been abseiling at Yosemite, but it was an easier solution to lie.  
  
“okay, why don’t you go to bed?” Daniel placed her down on the couch, looking at the carefully made air bed.  
  
“okay,” Betty said, just as Christina walked into the room.  
  
“what is going on here? Why does Betty look like she has been dragged through the Thames?” Christina pondered, sitting on the couch next to Betty.   
  
“she didn’t feel so good half way up the London eye,” Daniel shouted from in the kitchen. Betty turned to Christina, she wanted to tell her friend.  
  
“what is going on Betty, you aren’t scared of heights?”  
  
“I know, what happened was I was up there. There was this woman in the pod, with two little girls, they were saying they were at a boarding school. I thought…”  
  
“Betty what are you talking about?” Christina paled, at her friend’s confusion.  
  
“I think one of them was Rosa!” Betty said, under her breath to her worried friend.  
  
“what? Would that be possible, but you did say they were in England!” Christina looked on at Betty, wide eyed but with a smile on her face. Betty felt conflicted, she knew she should be excited if that was her daughter. Betty had been looking for Rosa for so long, while everyone else had just accepted it. Betty knew that she couldn’t, and would always look- however there were just so many unanswered questions. It wasn’t enough that the little girl looked like her, was called Rosa, and had the same necklace she gave to her baby to remember her by.  
  
“I know, I just had a feeling,”  
  
“Betty, you can’t go on just a feeling alone!”  
  
“I know, but it was more than that. She looked like me, she was called Rosa, and she even had the necklace,”  
  
“bloody hell Betty! I know you want to see your daughter, but…”  
  
“I am serious Christina, I heard her friend shouting her name. her friend asked to borrow a mirror.” Betty explained, although she felt ridiculous doing so.  
  
“Betty, I know- and that does sound a bit coincidental, but you can’t go on that alone. You said she was in a boarding school? Did the family have enough money to send her there?”  
  
“I don’t know, Wilhelmina said that they weren’t that rich. I don’t think they could, but sometimes they have windfalls,” Betty explained, while Christina looked pensive.  
  
“like if one of them died?”  
  
“Christina! Don’t say that! That’s awful!” Betty protested, remembering she only felt this dreadful when Daniel was due to marry molly. Then she remembered looking at the news that day, and seeing an article, about a couple that died, but their daughter survived. Betty knew it was a long shot, but it did say it was in England… so maybe? No! It was ridiculous, and just because Betty wanted to see Rosa so badly, she wanted to know her daughter was okay. She wasn’t going to look at that article, she was going to go to work, and suck up to Melissa, concentrating on not throwing her out of her house.  
  
“well, I know if William was still with that bitch Wilhelmina I wouldn’t rest until he was safe with me,”  
  
“I know, but the people who adopted Rosa were good people, they didn’t deserve anything bad to happen to them, even if I would get Rosa back!” Betty declared, although she wasn’t sure she would just leave the issue if Rosa was still with them. She just wanted to make sure Rosa was safe so she could move on with her life. She hadn’t told any of her previous boyfriends that she had had a baby, even matt had found out accidentally. She couldn’t seem to sustain a relationship since Rosa’s birth. Even matt had left her, to go to Africa. He still hadn’t come back from there, saying he was staying longer, although it was rumoured that he was coming back this year.  
  
“okay, luv. Why don’t I make us some tea?” Christina did that in times of trouble, make tea. William had grown up on it, so even he did ask for it with his supper. Christina left the room, while William trailed in behind her, crawling onto the couch alongside Betty.  
  
“aunty Betty, are you okay?” he sat next to her, holding one of his books that Christina had acquired from his short stay at Wilhelmina’s. most of them were bought when marc and Amanda decided to go on a shopping spree for baby William, curtesy of Wilhelmina’s card.  
  
“yeah, I went on the London eye.”  
  
“was it scary?” William asked, looking worried. In between shows and Stuarts death Christina hadn’t been sightseeing with William yet, not that she would want to with an overexcited toddler, especially since people stopped her, recognising her from her shows.  
  
“no, no! it was so much fun, but I wasn’t feeling well,”  
  
“did you eat mummy’s casserole? because I didn’t feel well after that!” William said, opening his book up on the page that it was last at, before passing it over to Betty. “mummy says I have to go to bed soon, can you read for me?” he asked, while Betty smiled.  
  
Christina came back into the living room, while Betty was still reading a sleepy William the story. He looked adorable, sitting on her lap as Betty read him the story.  
  
“I can see why you want to find her so badly, you are really good with him,” Christina sat on the other side of Betty, as William raised his head, moving to his mother’s lap.  
  
“thanks.” Betty handed her the book, then looked at her lit phone screen. “I just want to know she is okay,”  
  
“I know, I would want to if I were in the same position,” Christina looked at the square of light from the window above the door frame. It bled light into the living room, as well as the dusty light from the streetlamps outside the windows. Daniel hadn’t come back from wherever he had gone when they had gotten in, Christina didn’t ask. Christina looked back at William, who was all but asleep. “so, young man? Are we ready for bed?” she asked, lifting him up so they could go upstairs.  
  
“Christina? Where did Daniel go?” Betty asked, while Christina shrugged, still carrying William.  
  
“I don’t know, luv. I think he went outside,” she walked out of the room, while Betty could hear her walking up the stairs. Betty stood up, feeling a bit better after calming down and talking to William, before she stepped out into the kitchen. She looked around briefly, before opening the back door to see Daniel sitting outside, with a bottle of beer beside him.  
  
“hey,” Betty sat down on the cold stone steps.  
  
“hey, are you feeling better?” his blue eyes seemed slightly watery in the faint light. Betty didn’t look at Daniel, feeling the overwhelming weight of wanting to tell him about the little girl, but she was scared to. she didn’t want Daniel to dismiss the only lead she had had in years, the only clue. She would rather live in her fantasy world until she was certain. Betty instead looked down the garden. It wasn’t very big, nor very neat. The grass was short, however the flowerbeds were overflowing with weeds, while the shed was something that no one went near, it was that derelict.  
  
“yeah, I think I just was a bit nervous,”  
  
“really? Didn’t go abseiling?” he did remember.  
  
“yeah. It is just I hadn’t eaten, and I haven’t felt very well all day,”  
  
“so, you felt ill all day, and didn’t tell me?” Betty grinned, at Daniel trying to use British dialect, even though she had caught onto a lot of it as well.  
  
“I didn’t think it was much, I am just exhausted.”  
  
“the air bed not working out for you that well? huh?” Daniel grinned slightly, scooting over to Betty and taking off his jacket. He carefully placed it around her shoulders, feeling her forehead. “hmm, you are slightly warm. I wouldn’t be surprised if you are sick, this house is freezing! Didn’t it have a fireplace?” he asked, feeling Betty’s cheeks as well.  
  
“it does. In the living room, we don’t use it though- Christina doesn’t know how,”  
  
“is it one where you build it?” Daniel put on a smug impression, which must have translated to something about how he could be manly, and didn’t spend his entire time in $10,000 suits.  
  
“no, it is a gas one,” Betty leant against Daniel. she hadn’t been feeling well, but she didn’t think it was anything more than a cold.  
  
“okay, I will figure out to how to use it! anyway, I think we should get you inside, if you aren’t well,” Betty didn’t retaliate, instead followed Daniel inside, not wanting to argue the issue. Especially if it distracted her from saying something about Rosa.  
  
But, she was going to find out more. she had been dreaming about how to get back to her daughter, although it could easily seem as if she was crazy. She couldn’t just show up and declare it, even if she was her Rosa then her whole life would be disrupted, that wouldn’t be fair. She would just have to wait and hope.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty.

Betty woke up, surprised to hear someone rooting about at the end of her bed. she sat up with haste, seeing the shadowy figure, even without her glasses she recognised it to be Daniel. Betty reached over, putting her glasses haphazardly onto her face to be able to see.  
  
“Daniel what are you doing?” Betty asked, sitting further up.   
  
“I need to go and pick Melissa up from the airport,” Daniel was looking for his jacket, which he had put on the couch after Betty fell asleep still wearing it.  
  
“what? I thought she was arriving at eleven?”  
  
“she was, it is half ten now,” Daniel purposefully didn’t look at Betty, instead pretended to study his jacket.   
  
“what!” Betty was livid, shooting out of bed despite not being sure whether or not she was wearing pyjamas. Instead she was still wearing the clothes from the day before, “Daniel, what the hell? Why didn’t you wake me up? I’m going to be late for work!” Betty practically screeched, jumping out of her bed and rounding on Daniel.  
  
“you were sick last night, you aren’t going into work today. I’ve already called,”  
  
“Daniel, you can’t do that. I am fine, I need to go to work,”  
  
“no, you had a fever last night, and nearly collapsed on the London eye. You aren’t going anywhere,” Daniel pushed her back onto the couch, where Betty sat, staring directly at him. she looked angry for a minute, but then her expression changed to the same mournful one she had worn the previous day.  
  
“fine, where is Christina?” she asked, defeated.  
  
“she took William to school, and then met up with a friend for lunch. I took the day off because Melissa said she wants me to meet her with one of the big signs saying her last name,” Daniel said, trying to ignore Betty’s obvious sigh, since she was just rubbing her temples.  
  
“okay. You’re right, I don’t feel so good,” Betty grabbed the quilt from her airbed, wrapping it around herself. Daniel walked over, squeezing her shoulder before he left the room. Betty could hear the slamming of doors, as Daniel yelled out a goodbye.  
  
Betty switched on the television, lulling herself into a state between sleep and intense concentration on the television. She didn’t feel good, but it was mainly due to the guilt of wondering if that was Rosa or not. She couldn’t believe she didn’t act on it, but it seemed illogical either way.   
She was spurred out of it when she heard a sharp knock at the door, Betty got up thinking it would be Christina, however when she opened the door instead there was a tall boy there, who looked very much like… DJ.  
  
“hello?” Betty asked, looking confused.  
  
“Betty? It is me, Daniel junior, you live with my uncle, yes?” he asked, his accent very French. This was undoubtedly Daniel junior. Betty sighed, as if this couldn’t get complicated enough.    
  
“yes, I do. DJ what is going on?” she asked, letting the incredibly tall teen walk past her into the house. Betty craned her neck to look outside, to see if Alexis was going to come bounding up the path or something. No, just DJ, and a lot of luggage.  
  
“I go by just Daniel now,” he stood politely in the hall, while a confused Betty led him into the kitchen.  
  
“okay… then, but I am going to call you DJ, because Daniel lives here too and I already call his name enough,” although Betty could speak some French, she seemed to have forgotten it in her shock at DJ’s sudden arrival. He gave her a questioning look, while Betty came to terms with what she had said, and could it could be misinterpreted. “oh! No, he is just annoying!” Betty corrected, trying to move DJ’s suitcases out of the hallway.  
  
“thank you, Betty, I did not realise this was your home too?”  
  
“yes, Daniel came here to stay.” She looked around the kitchen, glad she fell asleep in her work clothes to avoid any embarrassment. “sit, DJ, would you like a drink?” she offered, reaching into the fridge.   
  
“yes, do you have juice?” he asked, acting casual, as he hadn’t yet told her the reasons for being in the UK, and not back in France with his mom.  
  
“DJ, why are you here?” Betty asked, sitting at the table with him.  
  
“Alexis told me something the other day, I didn’t know was true.”  
  
“yeah?” Betty didn’t like where this was going. The Meade’s were notorious for keeping secrets, as Alexis might not have told DJ that she used to be a man. Betty dreaded that, since that would warrant an impromptu trip to England, as well as a very lengthy explanation. “wait, DJ, did she come with you?”  
  
He looked down at the tiled floor instead of at Betty “no,”  
  
“does she know you are here?”  
  
“no,”  
  
“did you run away from home DJ?” Betty asked, her voice raising slightly.  
  
“maybe. But I had good reasons to,” he argued. Betty sighed, looking at the young man’s face. DJ was a couple of years younger than Justin, so he would be eighteen. Great, and he ran away from home.  
  
“how did you get all the way here, it wasn’t like it is your friend’s house?”  
  
“I have money. My grandparents died, and I got money from them,”   
  
“oh, DJ, I’m sorry,” Betty didn’t know how she was going to handle this situation. Obviously, they hadn’t told DJ something, or he had just found something out. But, it can’t have been that serious, since Daniel had been alternating between living in Paris and New York.  Betty was missing something, something she was sure Daniel was partially responsible for. Actually, she was sure Betty knew Daniel was somehow involved in this thing, considering he stayed with them for quite a while of her four years in London.   
  
“it is okay, I was very sad. But, I went to live with Alexis, because she is my aunt-,”  
  
“wait- did you say she was your aunt?” Betty asked. Alexis or Daniel was supposed to tell DJ that Alexis wasn’t his aunt, in fact she was his father/new-mother. How could Daniel be living there off and on for _four_ years and not tell him? that was just stupid, because the truth couldn’t stay hidden forever, and DJ had obviously just found it out.  
  
“oui, my aunt. I thought. I live with her for a year and then I found out that she is now a woman, and used to be a man,” he said, looking confused. Betty was shocked. Between Daniel’s teasing, and the news of the Meade’s being plastered all over the international media she wondered how DJ didn’t know that Alexis was a woman… who he still thought was his aunt.  
  
“yeah…”  
  
“and my father, Daniel. he isn’t my father, and Alexis is,” okay she had been expecting the worst, and it had been delivered. Not only that DJ had just found out that his ‘aunt’ used to be a man, but wasn’t his aunt at all. She was his father. No wonder poor DJ ran away, especially since they had kept this from him. and what had Daniel been doing? He spent most of his time in France with Alexis and DJ, still not getting around to telling the truth! He had lied to DJ, who up until recently thought Daniel was his father.  
  
“is that why you ran away?”  
  
“yes. I am here, I want Daniel to tell me the truth.” He said, while Betty nodded. She wanted the truth from Daniel too.  
  
“me too. I will call him right now, you just stay here,” Betty grabbed a jacket off the back of her chair, wrapping it around her as she stepped outside. She would need some privacy to yell at Daniel. she rung him immediately, not caring if they were on their way back from the airport. She would gladly yell at him in front of Melissa too.   
  
Wait, Melissa? What was she doing in all of this? she had gone to France too, even though DJ didn’t speak of her things may have been slightly suspicious that there was a little French boy who was connected to Daniel and Alexis but called Alexis ‘aunt’ and still thought Daniel was his father.  
  
“hello, Daniel Meade speaking?” Daniel must be driving, since he hadn’t checked the caller ID.  
  
“Daniel Meade! what the hell is wrong with you!”  
  
“Betty?” he responded, somewhat confused, as she yelled through the receiver. Daniel sat in his car, wondering what Betty was talking about. Melissa sat in the passenger seat, looking perplexed. “what are you talking about? Slow down,”  
  
“guess who showed up today?”  
  
“I don’t know, my mom?” Daniel guessed, although he didn’t know why Betty would be mad about that. Apart from not being able to fit that many people in that tiny house.  
  
“no, you are just going to have to find out yourself. But, I cannot believe you have been so irresponsible, I am going to tell your mom about this Daniel, goodbye,” she said angrily, disconnecting the call almost immediately afterwards.   
  
Daniel looked around at Melissa, trying to sort through the many things that could upset Betty, until he realised something. Someone had turned up… Betty wasn’t pleased… he was irresponsible. It could be DJ, who he hadn’t told about his real parentage.   
  
Daniel had left it up to Alexis when she went to France with DJ all those years ago, he depended on his sister to tell DJ that Daniel wasn’t his father, instead it was Alexis who had gender reassignment surgery, who was now his new mother. He couldn’t do it, it was too painful to do so. He had gone through the whole debacle with Rosa, and to think he still had a child then have DJ taken from him too was too much to handle.  
However, in the wake of Betty’s trip to London Daniel arrived in France, to find Alexis hadn’t told DJ what was going on, or even that she used to be a man. Daniel didn’t know how he was going to come back from that, so he didn’t say anything. DJ still thought Daniel was his father. Daniel didn’t get to spend much time with him, since he was busy trying to save MODE France, but when he did Daniel didn’t say anything.  
  
Worse was, Melissa knew too. She had, of course, heard about Alexis Meade, although she wasn’t aware that she was Daniel’s sister. Now, Melissa had been filled in, she was told to keep it quiet, so they could tell DJ when things were a little less confusing with MODE and magazine publishing. Daniel didn’t know whether or not he was going to have to go abroad to a different Meade publication somewhere across the globe. He couldn’t just drop the bombshell about the truth about DJ’s parentage and then have to go back to New York the next day because sales were tanking and his mom needed him.   
  
Melissa knew, and was okay with it. she knew that sacrifices had to be made, even in the real world, as well as the world of magazine publishing. However, Daniel knew he should have told someone else, someone like Betty. She would invariably tell him the right thing to do wasn’t keeping DJ in the dark, and waiting for him to find out.   
  
It all seemed to be okay, DJ had his grandparents looking after him. he went to his ‘aunt’ Alexis’s for dinner sometimes, which his grandparents came along for too. They were okay with the deception, since they didn’t want DJ to have his life more messed up. They knew about Alexis, but didn’t want their grandson to find out that Alexis not only was his biological father, but had been born a woman too. It was all too much for the school age boy to go through, especially when he needed to concentrate on other things like exams and couldn’t have huge bombshells dropped on him at any given moment. He just was glad his ‘father’ finally came to visit him after a couple of years of sparse contact.  
  
Then his grandparents died when their car crashed on the way back from a ski resort. DJ had to go to his legal guardian, which (since the French government knew the truth) was Alexis, where Daniel just happened to be staying with Melissa too.  
  
and now DJ knew. This wasn’t good, and probably what Betty was so mad about. Daniel had meant to tell her- however they had been having limited contact, and Daniel didn’t want to give Betty another reason to be mad at him, apart from the first year of their estrangement.   
Daniel got Melissa’s bags out of the trunk, before walking up the path to the front door. He wondered- he hoped Christina would be back, it might prevent Betty from actually killing him, although he had a feeling Christina would encourage it.  
  
When he got to the door, it opened for him, and he came face to face with Betty, who was looking more than annoyed at him. she had changed her clothes, wearing a peach silk blouse and black pants. She folded her arms over her chest when she saw him, as Daniel wordlessly dragged the bags inside.  
  
“I have to pick up William, you are coming with me,” Betty stated, without posing any room for movement.  
  
“but, I have to settle Melissa in,”   
  
“Melissa can come to, and watch me yell at you. nice to see you,” she said to the surprised Melissa who entered through the hallway.

“I think she would rather stay here,” Daniel muttered. He didn’t want to drag Melissa into this, especially because she knew everything that had gone on. he didn’t want anyone else to be more involved in Betty’s wrath.

  
Once Betty and Daniel had picked up William from his school, and after he had informed them all of the adventurous day he had had they went back to the house to sort out all the inhabitants. Betty had yelled at Daniel throughout the entire walk to DJ’s school, and he knew she would be madder when she found out what was going on, and how Melissa knew.  
  
“there’s my little man!” Christina said, holding out her arms for William to run to her and hug her. “I see we picked up a couple more on the way,” Christina raised her eyebrows, where Betty could hear Melissa and DJ speaking in French. Great, the amazing Melissa could speak French as well.  
  
“Yeah, blame him,” Betty pointed to Daniel, going into the kitchen as well.  
  
“what the hell did you do?” Christina asked, looking at the miserable Daniel.  
  
“I may have forgotten to tell DJ that Alexis was his actual father, and used to be a man. Betty’s mad,”  
  
“yeah, well… she may have a point, just go in there, and make yourself useful.” She passed William’s rucksack to Daniel, who stepped into the kitchen holding both the rucksack and Williams hand.  
  
“mummy, I walked home with aunty Betty,” he pointed at Betty who smiled, as William decided he was going to try and sit on the same chair as her.  
  
“so,” Christina clapped her hands together, “how are we going to sort this? there are seven people, eight if you include Andrew who is arriving later today to three bedrooms,”  
  
“three bedrooms? Where has Betty been sleeping?” Melissa butted in gripping a hold of Daniel’s arm.  
  
“don’t worry, she has the air bed in the living room. also, Christina I am going to fix the fireplace in the living room tomorrow,” when Daniel made this announcement he was met with a barrage of laughter. “what? Why are you laughing?” he demanded, hurt.   
  
Betty, who had managed to control her laughter the fastest put on a serious face and smiled weakly at Daniel. “Daniel, no offence, but I think we might want to leave it to a professional. Daniel, it is one thing to try and change a light bulb, but this is an old house and it simply isn’t safe,” Betty tried to reason with Daniel who nodded slowly.  
  
“okay, fine. But, you got sick yesterday because of the cold,” Daniel looked worriedly at Betty, while Christina shot her friend an angry glare. Betty wasn’t going to tell Daniel about the Rosa thing, especially not now the annoying and pushy Melissa was there. Melissa who desperately wanted to start a family with Daniel. Melissa who was bound to interfere.   
  
“I don’t see what we are going to do, since Andrew is staying here,”  
  
“why doesn’t Christina stay with Andrew?” Melissa asked, tapping her long, manicured nails on the side of a coffee cup. DJ wasn’t concentrating on anything people were saying, instead he was on his phone, texting. Perhaps it would be for the best. Christina bristled at Melissa’s less than polite question.   
  
“I would, luv, but he has only got a studio up this way. Also, William has school in the morning,” she said, grabbing another chair that was lined up against the wall. Betty had William on her lap as he was colouring something that was on the table, Betty’s chin resting on top of his head. Betty had become like a second mother to William, since she lived there and her home life was definitely more interesting than her work life.  
  
“right, so where is everyone going to sleep? If Betty has the living room, why doesn’t DJ share with her?”  
  
“no!” Daniel quickly but in, “that won’t be necessary, DJ could share with William, is that okay Christina?”  
  
“sure, luv. Both boy’s together, how old is DJ?”  
  
“nearly 18, so I think that would be okay,”  
  
“yep. Will? Do you mind having a big boy share your room? he has a bigger room, so we should fit another air mattress in there, easy,” she smiled at William and Betty. Betty didn’t know how she was going to do this. she just wanted time alone to think, now they had to inform Alexis of the whole mess about DJ while making sure Daniel and Melissa didn’t have sex in her bed.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!

Betty stepped into the building where her magazine was, with Melissa following closely behind. She got a better job at the fashion magazine, that Betty could have gotten into if she wasn’t so sure she didn’t want to be involved in fashion. That is why she left MODE, but instead she gets demoted to a crappy magazine, where they took none of her idea’s seriously. She had only been trying to implement it a few days but they insisted that it wouldn’t be applicable to their demographic. Betty bit her tongue about how their demographic consisted of very little, which was probably only the population of the local GP’s office  
  
But Melissa had come back after a fabulous day at her new job, which came complete with free clothes. It reminded Betty of Amanda, who only pretended to not like her, but Melissa pretended to not hate her which was much worse, especially since she was now under her roof.  
  
Betty had just come back from a long and tedious luncheon that involved her, thinking over a soggy sandwich from Tesco- alone, about how she should really get back on the horse. Especially when she had accidentally walked in on Melissa modelling her new lingerie for Daniel. Betty had told them she would be in and out of her room constantly since she was transitioning more of her stuff into the living room. she had abandoned the air bed for DJ to have and took the couch. It was actually warmer than the air bed and William was less likely to use it as a trampoline at five in the morning.   
  
Melissa was a typical Daniel Meade girl, with the exception she had two brain cells to rub together. Which made Betty feel worse. She had never been one of the pretty girls, but she was smart, she had been successful in her school life. Now what did she have to show? She had her school grades and three years’ experience following Daniel around, she wouldn’t ever be properly pretty. The braces were long gone in an accident at the Guggenheim with an article of lingerie that was worth more than even Daniel’s wardrobe. But she would forever need glasses, she wasn’t getting Lasik _ever_. She wouldn’t ever be six foot and weigh 100 pounds. People still said she was beautiful, but she didn’t always believe them, it was hard to do so with something that people hard argued against most of her school life.   
  
But what about Melissa? She was smart, and beautiful. not to mention, successful. She had run her own magazine, a pop culture bi monthly. She wasn’t made redundant, she quit since she wanted to pursue a family life, with Daniel. she could just flit from job to job with her impressive resume and her cover girl looks. It didn’t hurt having rich parents either.    
  
“Betty, just the girl I needed to talk to,”  
  
“what is it, ralph?” ralph was the hard hitting EIC, who was a preppy as he was annoying. he was constantly cheery, but in a ‘one false move and you’re out on your ass’ kind of way. Betty wasn’t the fondest of him, although he did like her- trying to hit on her on more than one occasion. Still, she had to suck up to him since he was the one who decided who was going to get promoted. And whether or not she would make the cut.  
He strolled up to her desk, winking at one of the women who had walked by. Betty didn’t even pretend to hide her disgust and rolled her eyes.  
  
“well, as you know this magazine isn’t doing so well,” She nodded, it was doing worse than her magazine when it had tanked, and that was only because they had been going on longer than her magazine had.  
  
“yeah?”  
  
“now, I am only telling you in person, because I think I can make it slightly more bearable,”  
  
Betty felt her blood run cold, slightly. “what will be slightly more bearable?”  
  
“unfortunately, the magazine is going to be shutting down. I was just about to retire, but they cut me off before I could appoint the next EIC.” he sat next to her, well he was technically on the table next to her as he delivered the bad news. Betty had wondered how long this magazine was going to last anyway, since just last month they had her comparing tooth pastes, because that was a good use of her time.  
  
“why were you going to retire?” Betty asked. She knew there was no point contending the fate of the magazine.  
  
“yeah, I’m going to the US, my ex-wife want’s me there,” Betty wasn’t at all a little surprised he had an ex-wife, especially since he was a Daniel wannabe. Well, the playboy Daniel used to be.  
  
“I have already spoken to the higher ups about transfers for new jobs, including for you. you have worked real hard, kid. I want you to have security,” the ‘higher up’s’ were ralphs way of talking about Lindsay Dunne and the rest of the people in the executive suites, including the CFO. “and I told the managing editor this morning. But I am having my daughter here tomorrow, she goes to a boarding school tomorrow. I want you to look after her and her friend who are going to be here for a couple days. You said your friend has a son?”   
  
“yeah,” there were some parts of Betty that weren’t as grateful for the job opportunity as she should have been, it would just mean another job, with less pay at a magazine worse than this one.  
  
“well, I just need a favour. It will nudge that recommendation a little further towards whoever needs it most. I need someone to look after her, do you think you can do that?” he asked, smiling slightly at Betty. Betty nodded. She knew that it would be futile to argue against a recommendation, when she could have easily been out on her ass with no job.  
  
“I can do that, sure,”   
  
“also, Betty… I spoke to your old boss who gave me more good things to say about you.” ralph grinned.  
  
“Daniel?”  
  
“yeah, he showed me your blog. I loved your idea’s but we don’t have the budget to run them. Daniel sent me a recommendation on your work?” ralph asked, while Betty blushed. She was in the middle of processing all the information that was swirling around her head at that moment.   
  
“I… erm, thank you. so, I could have a chance at getting another job?”  
  
“yeah,” ralph looked awkward, adjusting his tie as he still sat on her desk. “but the other candidate has more experience and was in a higher position for longer. but, I can give you a special recommendation, considering your blog and all your contributions to this magazine. The babysitting is just something you could do for me so I can add to your recommendation. I know it isn’t part of your job description, but Daniel spent half the time saying how an amazing assistant you were, and I needed the help,” he said sincerely. Betty knew that if she wanted to be employed, she had to suck it up. She had lasted two years here, maybe the new magazine would be open to change.  
  
  
“I would be happy to do it for you, but I don’t see how it could help?”  
  
“well, it would come under the title of additional experience, which might give you the edge. See, we can’t just fabricate a couple of more years working as an EIC onto your resume, so we need to come up with something else,” Betty was surprised ralph would go to great lengths to do this for her and make sure she still had a job. But, then again, he had spoken to Daniel, her cheerleader. The man who wrote her a six-page recommendation. The father of her child, although they had worked hard to bury that.   
  
“really? Thank you!” Betty squealed, she felt happy but also miserable. She had just lost another job, but Daniel was back on her team and she could get another chance, of course, she would rather be back in New York with her family, but she wasn’t about to turn down a really good opportunity.  
  
“that is fine. My kid is seven, and she goes to this boarding school in London. I have to watch her for a week, and for a couple of days she is coming here. She wants to be a model when she grows up,” he explained, while Betty nodded. The little girl sounded like a right terror, but hopefully her friend wouldn’t be as much of a nightmare.  
  
“what about the other kid?”  
  
“oh, she is Madison’s best friend- her parents died a while ago,”  
  
“oh, how awful.” Betty wondered about Madison’s mother. Ralph, as far as Betty knew had one ex-wife who was a nightmare, only wanting him in the US when she wanted something. Betty privately wondered if Madison’s mother was her, and if so, why was her daughter in a boarding school all the way in London. at least when Daniel was sent away to boarding school it was on the same continent as his parents.  “what about Madison’s mother?”  
  
“she is gone too, that is why she is in boarding school. She was my first wife, died before Maddie was four. I couldn’t look after her and run a corporation, so…” Betty felt a newfound respect for ralph as she nodded with him.  
  
“okay, when do they come in?”  
  
“Tuesday, go, enjoy your weekend Betty.” He smiled, walking away from her desk  
  
    
Betty wandered home slowly. She didn’t know what to make of the news. She was getting made redundant. But she possibly could have a job at another magazine. It would probably be worse than the current one she was working for, but Betty had to make sacrifices., her and Andrew were going away for the weekend to escape the madness, also to have a romantic getaway. It was only a few days into DJ’s arrival, but everything was crazy in the house. Melissa and Daniel didn’t know how long they were going to stay, however Alexis was still being indecisive about whether or not they were going to hire someone to be a full time EIC. Mainly, because her son had just run away, and was refusing to come back.   
  
DJ was adamant that he wanted a break, he had just finished his exams, then found out the massive bombshell that everyone who he was closest to had been hiding from him all these years. Betty, felt he was at least entitled to a little break. But, now she had to try and fix the relationship with DJ and Alexis because Daniel and Melissa were too busy being in a disgusting love bubble.   
  
So, Betty didn’t just have babysitting duty at work, also at home. She had to look after DJ, and had volunteered to mind will over the weekend. Daniel was running around, putting out the fires in the burning building of MODE UK, while Melissa was house hunting. It appeared they would be in London for a while.  
  
Betty ran into the house, being glad that ralph gave her the rest of the day off which meant she could tell Christina before she went on the holiday. “Christina! You will never guess what?” she might as well be excited over this, she was still employed after all.  
  
“what is it luv?” Christina practically flew down the stairs, looking panicked but looked soothed when she found Betty, unharmed at the bottom of the stairs.  
  
“okay, so, the magazine is shutting down, but ralph said I can get another job, all I have to do is babysitting duty,”  
  
“why are you smiling about that, I thought you just lost your job?” she asked. Betty took off her scarf, placing it over the banister as she grinned at Christina.  
  
“I was upset, but I could really make a change, even though it is likely to be another demotion. It might be the only opportunity I am going to get in a while.,.”  
  
“where does the babysitting come in?” Christina dragged a heavy suitcase behind her, which promptly fell to Betty’s feet at the bottom of the stairs.  Betty picked up the suitcase, noting how it was as heavy as it sounded tumbling down the stairs.   
  
“well, his daughter, who is in boarding school here needs to spend some time with him. so, as the ultimate fatherly gesture he is letting her and a friend come to do some work at their publication.” Betty said somewhat bitterly. may be pleased that ralph was doing extra to help her remain on her feet in the publishing industry; however, it didn’t mean she would approve of Ralph’s parenting tactics.  
  
“oh, geez. Poor kid. Still, are you on for looking after will?”  
  
“yes, go. Enjoy your holiday. Where is DJ?”  
  
“I told him to get off his arse, and go outside. He is on the sofa watching the news or something. I think he is waiting for Daniel to get home,”  
“I didn’t realise Daniel would be early today. MODE UK is screwed,” Betty raised her eyebrows, trying to listen out for DJ.  
  
“I don’t know luv, I was a little distracted by this bugger,” she smiled at Andrew as he descended the stairs, too carrying suitcases as well.  
“Christina, you flatter me,” he smiled, pecking her on her cheek.   
  
“this isn’t the half of it, now off with you. I need these suitcases to be removed as a tripping hazard,” she smiled at Betty, who grinned at Andrew as he too moved the suitcases down the stairs.   
  
“anyway, is Daniel taking DJ out tonight?” Betty asked, she had to know, since it would be one less minor to worry about.  
  


“I think so. Daniel was saying something about some movie premier, that DJ wanted to see. Anyway, the man should be home soon, so I shouldn’t worry. But, we have a holiday to get to!” Christina smiled, pulling Andrew along with her and practically out of the door. Betty sighed, this was going to be a long weekend.

  
Daniel got into the house, where Betty and DJ were watching the television while snacking on hot dogs.  
  
“hey, guys. Where did you get the hot dogs?”  
  
“supermarket, they are the microwavable kind,” she smiled through a mouth full of hot dog. Daniel grinned, only Betty could be that unintentionally adorable.  
  
“cool, DJ, are you still on for tonight?”  
  
“oui, Daniel Betty said she wants to come,” he looked at Betty, who turned back to the television. She didn’t want to seem needy, but she never really got to spend much time with Daniel without Melissa being there. She and Melissa left roughly at the same time, so they went back to the house together, unless Betty made an excuse to stop off somewhere first. She had been eating out a lot since Melissa’s arrival.  
  
“do you? I got three tickets, me and Melissa were going to take DJ- but if you want to come?”  
  
“oui, please Daniel. Melissa will be all-,” Betty elbowed DJ in the ribs to stop him talking. DJ wasn’t the biggest fan of Melissa either, but hadn’t told Daniel that he didn’t like Melissa. He wouldn’t tell Betty either, but Betty had a sneaking suspicion that is part of the reason DJ came to England to stay with them. She didn’t doubt the shock of Alexis’s news was real, however DJ was far too adamant not to go back.  
  
“Melissa will be what?” Daniel looked confused, as he stared at the pair on the couch. Betty was staring straight ahead at the television, while DJ bit his lip. He saw DJ’s hand move towards Betty as she spun around.  
  
“Melissa has a lot of work to do tonight, and DJ heard her saying she wanted to meet up with a couple of her friends.” Betty covered for the panicked DJ. Melissa did have a few friends in London, ones that had remained from when Melissa had her modelling days here.  
  
“oh, why didn’t she say anything?”  
  
“she wanted to- what is it Betty?” DJ spoke.  
  
“Melissa wanted some bonding time with DJ and you, so she didn’t say anything,” Betty explained. She didn’t like Melissa, but it was mainly to do with how rude Melissa was to her, not about the other stuff, although Betty could sense there was something DJ wasn’t telling her. Daniel had told Betty all about DJ and his other girlfriends, some of which DJ really liked. He wanted a family, and since he still thought Daniel was his father it worked out that DJ wanted more people to his family. But he hated Melissa.  
  
“oh, right. I suppose, I will talk to her, but if you want to come Betty, you are welcome to,”  
  
“I want the bonding time with Betty,” DJ said smiling at Betty, who was still sitting across the couch from him.  
  
“alright, I will talk to her when she gets home.” Daniel said, putting his coat and bag down before walking off. Betty watched Daniel go with a confused look on her face. she had only stuck up for DJ because she wanted to go and was hurt Daniel didn’t include her- but she wanted to get to the bottom of it.  
  
“DJ, why don’t you like Melissa?” Betty asked, hearing Daniel run up the stairs.  
  
“she is rude, and she doesn’t let me speak to Daniel,” DJ was still getting used to not calling Daniel Papa, so occasionally he would slip up.  
  
“also, I want to spend bonding time with you. you were nice, and spoke to Alexis for me,” he smiled at Betty who nodded. DJ was right, Melissa was rude- but models typically were. She had seen it in the weird dream about pretty teeth Betty. Betty knew (by watching Amanda and all the other model’s that were paraded through the halls of MODE) that when people fawned all over others they felt more entitled, and could be really rude.   
  
“okay, DJ. But, Daniel really likes Melissa, and he has proposed so you will have to be nice to her,”  
  
“okay Betty,” he said. Betty knew DJ wouldn’t do anything to upset Daniel as he idolised the man, but she too was beginning to take notice of the bad feeling she had about Melissa. At first Betty thought it was just petty jealousy, but thanks to DJ’s reluctance Betty seemed to be awakened to her suspicions.   
  
“DJ, I am going to go and call her friend to arrange a meeting, okay. We don’t want Daniel to find out,” Betty would normally be acting as the amateur detective she was for all those times Daniel got falsely accused of attempted murder (although it was slightly odd that all of the family had been in prison- including Tyler from one of his general drunken escapades.) she would try and investigate the Melissa thing. But she didn’t have time, although there were certain flags that popped up when she thought about the woman there was nothing incriminating.  
  
Sure, it was weird that both Daniel, Alexis, and Melissa kept DJ successfully in the dark, also Melissa miraculously appeared by Daniel’s side just after she had quit her job. Also, DJ’s unease about her, and the fact Betty knew that he wasn’t telling her something. But, she didn’t have time to focus on that. She was working towards not getting fired, as well as trying her best to find Rosa.  
  
She hadn’t seen the little girl again, while Betty felt as if her original thoughts were completely ridiculous ad only bred from wanting her child back. But, she had to be in real life, and not try and find the hidden schemes in her life, although the lack of Wilhelmina did make life a little less interesting, even if she did hate the woman.   
  
Betty snuck out of the living room, into the kitchen, glad that the house had three floors so Daniel might not hear her while he was in her room and she was rootling through Melissa’s contact book in the kitchen. She had forgotten it that day, lying inconspicuously on the kitchen counter. Betty rifled through it looking for the contact to the friend she always spoke about. Betty looked through the book of names and contacts when she noticed something. Melissa had Connor’s address.   
  
Betty knew, from Justin, who had interned at MODE during the holidays and was currently besties with marc that Wilhelmina and Connor got married in a ceremony where she didn’t kill him at the altar, and were currently more powerful than ever- something that scared Betty. But, why did Melissa have Connor’s contact?  
  
She knew Melissa had worked in publishing, and as a model across most of the major cities, including in LA. She could have easily known Connor, but it just seemed strange. Betty shook her head and flipped across a couple of pages until she got to the name of the woman and dialled her phone number.  
  
“hello?” the voice said into the phone.  
  
“hello, you are speaking to the assistant to Melissa Levan, I am requesting to speak to Mia Turner,”  
  
“speaking,” she said. Betty smiled, her professional voice worked every time.   
  
“she was calling to set up dinner at the typing fields, she is back in London. Is seven alright?” Betty requested. She could hear the scratch of a pen on paper on the line.  
  
“yeah, that would be amazing. I haven’t spoken to Melissa in ages. That would be great, how come she didn’t call me herself?”  
  
“she is very busy with meetings, but I will pass the message on of your acceptance, thank you Mrs. Turner.” Betty said, hanging up promptly and writing the address down.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty.

Betty sat with Daniel at the table, while DJ was texting a girl he had met at an under-18’s club a few days ago, Melissa was due to come home soon, so Betty lied to Daniel about Melissa’s friend calling. She didn’t want Daniel to know the truth, even though she promised not to lie to him. they used to be on the same team, but it didn’t seem to be that way anymore.

“so, are you good to come tonight then?”

“yeah, thanks for letting me come. I haven’t really had a chance for a break in a while, I can’t really take days off,”

“what have you been working on?” Daniel asked, grinning at Betty from across the table. Betty wasn’t doing anything related to her actual job, instead a mind map of all the dodgy things Melissa had done.

“just new story ideas,” Betty lied, not wanting for Daniel to find out about any of the investigations.

“what is it on?” he asked, leaning over.

“oh, nothing much, but the magazine folded, Ralph is leaving since his ex-wife want’s him back in the states-however he said I still have a job with another magazine!” Betty said sombrely.

“wow, Betty. How do you feel about that??” he asked, getting up from his chair and moving to hug her. Betty settled in Daniel’s arms, having missed all the hugging they did, since Melissa normally kept a close eye on Daniel.

“not too good, but it is better than being unemployed It is between me and this other person for the next job, but ralph was given a rather good recommendation of me, and decided I could babysit for him to have something else to put on my resume. Thank you, Daniel, how did you find out ralph was leaving?”

“his ex-wife works at Meade, I heard about the magazine folding. I wanted to make sure you still had a job, so I sent in a recommendation,”

“and you called and said nice things about me?” Betty held onto Daniel tighter.

“not so much nice as truthful,” Betty let go, blushing slightly as she sat back on her chair. Daniel smiled at her, a tinge of red creeping up onto his cheeks as well.

“well, thank you. I really appreciate it. I have also been looking at some stuff I could put on my blog. I haven’t updated in a while.,” Betty smiled at Daniel again. she was glad that Daniel did still stick up for her, even if he spent most of his time with Melissa.

Betty looked at her watch, knowing she had to pick up will soon. “Daniel, I have to go and pick up will for Christina, will we be okay to hire a sitter?”

“yeah, I think so.” In hindsight, it would have been easier to deflect the babysitting onto Melissa, if it wasn’t for the fact that Christina didn’t trust her with her child. For some reason, no one trusted Melissa at all, apart from Daniel, and Betty knew from previous experience that Daniel was sometimes too trusting. Ahem… going out with the sister of your sworn enemy.

The next day

 Betty held will on her hip, while Melissa daintily danced around the kitchen making pancakes, well crepes for DJ. She didn’t know whether or not Melissa knew about Betty calling her friend for them to meet so Betty could go with Daniel and DJ. It wasn’t a crime to let two friends meet, especially in order to gain DJ’s trust. As much as he enjoyed having the teenager staying with them, Betty knew that DJ needed to have some kind of plan.

He couldn’t just stay with them and not let Alexis know what was going on. DJ wasn’t yet 18, so he had to have some kind of legal guardian, which wasn’t Daniel. it was Alexis, so if DJ wanted to come and live in the UK he would have to see Alexis first anyway to authorise it.

“aunty Betty? Will you take me to the fun museum?” will asked, looking at the food excitedly. Betty nodded and smiled at him, knowing will wanted to go to the science museum, however Christina hadn’t had the opportunity to so far. She had plenty of shows to cover and was working on a new design line as well, while Betty had been too busy with work and trying to juggle several work-related things, including her no less diminished feelings for Daniel.

Something had nearly happened last night. the movie premier was everything Betty had expected since Daniel was only able to get an invitation in accordance with his last name, so she had to dress up for the part. One of Christina’s friends who Betty knew as well was able to act as a stand in baby sitter, so Betty could get ready. She knew what she wanted subconsciously… and not so subconsciously. She was still in love with Daniel, it was simple. But so very complicated. She wouldn’t break Daniel and Melissa up just because she loved him still, even if Melissa was a bit rude it didn’t mean she deserved to have her heart broken.

“yes, I will. I know you have wanted to see it for ages,” betty smiled at will, putting him back onto his chair by the table.

“what is the fun museum?” Melissa asked, putting another crepe onto the plate. She had lived in France so she knew how to make decent crepes which Betty preferred to pancakes anyway.

“the science museum, it has an interactive bit for children,”

“cool. I was thinking, even if Alexis hires a new EIC then me and Daniel will probably stay on in London. I have my new job here, and I would like my kids to grow up near my family in France,”

“that is really awesome,” Betty loaded will’s plate with pancakes, helping him put fruit on them as well as folding them up so whipped cream could be added. she didn’t know whether or not Melissa’s friend had told her about the ‘secretary’ that called to set up their dinner. Melissa didn’t show any signs of knowing about it, despite it was only her and Melissa, including will downstairs and awake at that point. Betty had borrowed Christina’s bed while she was away with Andrew while DJ slept on the couch.

“I know. But, Daniel doesn’t want to start a family until he has found Rosa.”

“I know. We have always felt that way, about how we needed to find Rosa first before we moved on. Daniel wrote her a letter for when we find her again,” Betty didn’t know why she was telling Melissa this piece of very private information, they hadn’t even told molly it, and molly was one of the nice ones.

“yeah… Daniel and I were discussing what we are going to do when Rosa is found-,”

“I wanted to talk about that, because her adoptive family are good people, we don’t want to take their little girl away from them,” Betty explained, taking her own pancakes from Melissa and liberally coating them in honey. There was something very big she hadn’t told Melissa, or anyone- and she wasn’t about to.

Betty knew why Rosa could be in a boarding school, while all earlier thoughts of her overreacting went out of the window. Rosa’s adoptive parents were dead.

The previous evening (9:49pm)

Betty heard her phone ring in her purse as she extracted it to view it quickly. The movie premier was just about to start as they got out of the limo, while they were all currently walking up a red carpet lined with paparazzi. They got into the foyer where Betty was able to move away from the swarming crowd of celebrities, being thankful the paparazzi was only allowed as far as the front door.

She drew aside from Daniel and DJ, DJ was too busy staring at the gilt ceiling to notice, while Daniel was waylaid by some other celebrity. Her phone had a missed call and text, both from Christina.

“Christina?” she said into her phone, calling her friend back immediately, without looking at the text.

“Betty, did you get my text?” she said, her voice hushed and frantic.

“Christina, what is going on? are you okay?”

“you know how you said you thought you saw Rosa, but that would be impossible because they didn’t have enough money to put her in a boarding school?”

“Christina what are you talking about? Are you there yet? I thought you set off earlier?”

“no, Betty. We had a pit stop quickly for dinner, but we saw something by the side of the road, like a memorial sort of. Anyway, I remember you telling me about this article you read saying about this couple who died in a crash but their daughter survived-,”

“did I tell you that?” Betty was perplexed, she had just thought it as a trigger of a memory, not something she thought Christina would follow up on. Or even hear.

“yes, luv. Anyway, I didn’t look at it, because you said that you were probably being ridiculous and the state you were in… well, I agreed. But I did remember when I was Wilhelmina’s surrogate I went snooping in her files. It had the information about Rosa’s adoptive parents.”

“did it? because all I knew where their names. And that they lived in England.” Betty wasn’t shocked that Wilhelmina was sitting on further information. generally, an adoption meant that the biological parents weren’t told much about the adoptive parents, to keep the child safe in many cases. Betty also knew that it would be a lot harder to find a child through an adoptive service as the parents, where the child first had to alert that they were looking for their biological parents. Which wasn’t common for a seven-year-old.

“yes, were their names Elise and Trevor finch?”

“I think so,”

“were they two blonde people, looked a bit like model’s?” Christina asked, while Betty was a bit confused. Why was Christina asking her all of this? had she accidentally bumped into them on the way there or something?

“yes- wait, why are you saying ‘were’?”

“because they’ve died, luv. You said about the traffic incident, and we stopped at this little pub just off the way from the M25. We saw a tribute to them, saying how they died here in 2009. Summer time, I think Rosa would have still been one, anyway, I looked the news article up, and it said they had a one year old daughter. They couldn’t release the name but she survived… but there was something about an appeal to who she would go and live with. Then the news just stopped. She could have been put in a boarding school?”

“yeah, or she could be living with a random relative of theirs,”

“Betty, that is what the appeal was about, they couldn’t find any relatives,”

“oh,” Betty felt her heart lift, her spirits soar. That could have been Rosa, who went to that boarding school. It tied in with where 3million of Bradford’s money went, to Rosa. Her own trust fund. That meant she could find her, she could find her baby again.

“is that what you texted me about?”

“yes, it showed their pictures, I wasn’t sure if it was them or not?” Christina said over the phone, her breathing as rapid in excitement and shock that they could get Rosa back. Betty checked the message, the picture was of the two people Betty would remember, the ones that adopted Rosa. Either that or their identical twins. It was them.

“Christina, it’s them,”

“bloody hell Betty, what are you going to do because you can’t just walk up to the front desk and ask for your daughter back, can you?”

“no, that would be ridiculous, and I don’t even know what school she is-,” Betty said, before feeling a hand on her shoulder, jolting her back to reality. It was Daniel, and she didn’t know how much of the conversation he had heard. Especially since Christina was practically screaming down her phone, so Betty was pretty sure she didn’t need a loudspeaker.

“what are you talking about?” Daniel asked, smiling nervously at Betty. In one smooth motion Betty hid the phone behind her back, disconnecting the call. She would just have to text Christina to explain. She didn’t want to tell Daniel just yet. Because he would move on to his life with the questionable Melissa, leaving her to clean up all his mess as usual, especially with DJ. If that was the result of one of the Meade children Betty wasn’t sure she wanted Daniel to help her find Rosa. There was no way he was going to deceive her baby.

Another thing Betty was scared of when telling Daniel was rejection of the idea. It all seemed a bit desperate and farfetched in the beginning, but most of Mrs. Meade’s peculiar innuendo made sense, especially when Tyler came back into the picture. She was right, a mother did know her child, even when Alexis reappeared it was easy to tell that Claire had quite a good idea what was going on. but she wouldn’t be able to stand it if Daniel didn’t believe her, if he accused her of being delusional. It might just break her heart, more than it was already broken.

 

Melissa too sat at the table as they both watched William eat sloppily, Betty darting in with a paper towel every so often to wipe down the table cloth.

“no, I completely understand, it wouldn’t be right to take her away from someone who has cared for her for seven years,” Melissa interjected after a brief moment of silence.

“yeah. I think Daniel just wanted to know his little girl was safe,” Betty smiled slightly at her, the corners of her mouth twitching.

“I completely understand,” she repeated. Betty flinched, she had a feeling she wasn’t going to like what Melissa had to say. She was being too nice to say something Betty would like. Melissa wasn’t always nice, she was rude and bitchy, reminding Betty a little of the unsuccessful assistant Daniel had hired when she first quit.

“what is going on. I know that you want a family with Daniel. I don’t have a problem with that. I also know that Daniel wanted to find Rosa before he had any other children.” Betty said, recounting what Daniel had said over their many conversations about their futures.

“I know, but we have also discussed if we find Rosa and she isn’t with the family anymore,”

“what do you mean? you can’t force them to give her up?” Betty panicked, she didn’t know whether or not Melissa was just trying to irritate her, or they really did know something. At this point it didn’t really feel like a friendly chat across the kitchen table, instead more of a business meeting. Betty sat, trying to get will to eat the last of the pancakes on one side, while Melissa sat at the other end of the table, dressed in a suit far too formal for the weekend.

“no, we don’t intend to do that, Betty. But, Daniel found out that his father had given Rosa a trust fund, where regular payments were being taken out of it. so, I looked further into it, and I found they came from a boarding school here in London,” Betty knew that Bradford had set up a trust fund for Rosa, putting it in the new family’s name. but what Betty didn’t know was that Daniel and Melissa had looked at it. examined the expenses.

But it also meant that the little girl she saw in the boarding school uniform, and on the London eye was probably her daughter.

“does Daniel know what it was spent on?” was the only thing that could come out of Betty’s mouth. Her thoughts were racing and most of them involved finding Rosa and running as far away as possible. Four years of saving may not have been enough to buy a decent house in the heart of London, but it was enough for a plane ticket back to New York. Betty doubted Melissa would ever voluntarily step foot in queens.

“no, that was just me. but he said if we ever found her we should adopt her,” Melissa’s words were like a knife to the heart. There was no way Betty was letting Melissa have her child, no way! And to think Daniel would endorse it. Betty knew that she had broken his heart, but she didn’t think he would go this far.

“is that the whole reason for living in London?” Betty could do it. she had dealt with stone cold bitches before, such as Wilhelmina, only her response then was to faint. But this was different. She could remain calm and get Rosa back. Melissa seemed surprise as Betty didn’t break down crying, instead calmly went to get a paper towel to clean off the table from where will had spilt syrup. “will, could you go to your room and go and get dressed please?” he nodded, running off.

“yes, we wanted to be where she has lived all her life.” Betty didn’t hear her name in there, so Betty wasn’t assuming it would be a deal where she was allowed to see Rosa on weekends. Betty knew that it would be hard, if they found Rosa when they were in different relationships, not with each other. They hadn’t really considered the logistics of sharing her between them, although Betty wasn’t bargaining for a complete takeover.

“so, would it be a full-time thing?”

“she would live with us, yes. I mean, you could see her if you wanted to, on weekends and such,” Melissa explained, trying to look perfectly innocent. Betty felt like taking a leaf out of Claire’s book and tackling the woman who threatened her child into a fountain, but it wouldn’t look good for her.

“why couldn’t she live with me? and you, of course. But I am her mother, and I have been waiting for her arrival as much as Daniel has,” Betty explained. Melissa raised her eyebrows at Betty, before reaching into her bag and pulling out a sheaf of papers.

“they prefer it if a child is adopted into a stable home, with a married couple with a secure income,” Betty didn’t say anything, she knew that was true- but she didn’t know if it counted for the child’s biological mother. Still, there were the stances of Rosa’s adoption. They did sign an agreement to have their baby adopted, and Wilhelmina was powerful enough to escape whatever the judge threw at her. there would be all kinds of questions to why she gave Rosa up, and suddenly want her back. Things weren’t looking good for Betty.

“well, how do you know you will even get the chance at adopting her? just because she is in boarding school doesn’t mean she isn’t with the other family. Maybe they just wanted a better education for her,”

“I know, but I want to find out why she is there. I want to be able to start a family with Daniel,” Melissa said coldly, leaving Betty sitting at the kitchen table, ready to throw something. It would probably be at Melissa. It was clear from what Melissa said that Daniel wasn’t the brains behind it, but he held the connection to money and power while Melissa could play mommy to her child. It wasn’t going to happen.

But, what was unclear was whether Melissa knew about Rosa’s adoptive parent’s deaths. If she didn’t then Betty could use something to her advantage. But she also knew who to talk to. someone who would always be on her side, and could do something about this whole mess. Someone who knew exactly what she was going through having had problems with her own adoption.

Claire. The woman had kept in touch with Betty throughout the four years she was in London, acting as a sort of mentor and even occasionally coming out to visit her. (Christina wouldn’t let Alexis in the house which wasn’t surprising after what happened, so Claire was the only Meade that visited them, with the exception of Daniel and now DJ) Claire would have someone she could talk to and would probably give her some advice on how to take down socialites- she was actually writing a book on her experience about all the Meade drama over the years.

Betty waited until her and will were on the bus to the science museum to call Claire, the line got connected instantly and Claire’s warm voice appeared on the line.

“Betty? Are you okay, dear?”

“not really, Mrs. Meade, I need your help,” she explained, her voice solemn.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty.

Betty looked out of the window, waiting for Christina to arrive home. Betty hadn’t told Daniel about her little conversation with Melissa, or the one with his mother. Actually, she had barely said two words to him over the entirety of the weekend.

Mrs. Meade was rightly suspicious and very upset for Betty. She also told Betty she was going to stick up for her, even if Daniel was her son since she didn’t like Melissa either and completely understood having been parent that was reunited with her own lost child. But, Mrs. Meade had told her some stuff on DJ’s sudden arrival that Betty felt she should look into.

“aunty Betty?” William tugged on her jacket sleeve as they watched out of the window for Christina and Andrew to pull up in his car.

“yes, will?”

“is mummy coming home soon?” Betty could just imagine how Rosa felt when her adoptive parents died, although she would have only been nearly two it didn’t stop the pain from being there.

“yes, that is why we are at the window,”

“good. I miss her, also cousin DJ said I can have a go on his phone when he is in my room,” will’s small voice was happy. According to will everyone else was a pseudo aunt or an uncle, so that made DJ his pseudo cousin.

“well, that is awesome, isn’t it?” Betty asked, brushing Williams hair out of his eyes.

“yes,” he crawled back to sit on the main bit of the couch, while watching television. The air bed was back in William’s room for DJ to sleep in while all the bedding that was continually moved around was behind the couch.

Betty sat back onto the couch, thinking Christina would be arriving soon, while DJ was out to lunch with Daniel and Melissa. She felt something vibrate under her leg and lifted it up to see DJ’s phone. That was strange, since DJ- being a teenager- never went anywhere without his phone, but he had left it for her to sit on. she looked at the caller ID, it was Alexis. Betty had been the one trying to diffuse the situation between the mother and son (as well as giving a telling off of her own) however DJ had refused to return to France, since he insisted on having a short holiday before he sorted it all out.

“DJ, why the hell aren’t you answering, I told you to call me back yesterday,” came the annoyed shout of Alexis through the phone the minute Betty accepted the call. She was confused, so stayed in silence with the phone next to her ear, DJ had refused to talk to Alexis on the phone every time Betty had offered it to him, however Alexis was acting as if they spoke the other day.

“Alexis, it is me, Betty.”

“oh crap. Betty, why are you answering DJ’s phone?” she said her voice harsh, but scared at the same time, probably because she was scared her voice has a bitter tone to it.  

“he left it here, Daniel took DJ out with Melissa.”

“oh, so he just forgot the phone,” Alexis suggested. Betty looked at her phone sceptically thinking it was about time to start asking some questions. Mrs. Meade had warned her about something that was going on with DJ, about how Alexis was in the US, with her- although her son was supposed to have run away it wasn’t the time to have a vacation. Mrs. Meade had also told Betty that Alexis hadn’t told Daniel she was in the US, despite their frequent conversation about what they were doing regarding MODE UK.

“yes. Alexis, why was DJ supposed to contact you?” Betty asked, posing the question to see if Alexis was willing to give up the truth.

“because I have called him loads, I passed on a message through Daniel, I want to speak to my son,” so she was still pretending that she was in France and eagerly awaiting DJ’s arrival back home.

“why are you in New York then? I want DJ back, why are you 4,000 miles away?”

Alexis let out a low hiss “you spoke to my mother, didn’t you? well, Betty… erm,”

“is this about Melissa?” Betty was looking through DJ’s call log, while there were a few calls to DJ’s friend in London, most of them were to Alexis.

“Betty-,”

“please, Alexis I want to know what is going on. first DJ shows up out of the blue, saying no one told him about you becoming a woman- and yet he knew where Daniel was staying in London. next, Mrs. Meade tells me that you are in New York, and you wouldn’t do that, if you were expecting DJ to come home,” Betty tried to reason, listening to any sign that Alexis would be lying.

“right… why were you talking to my mom?”

“about Melissa, she said that I needed to talk to you to know what was going on,” Betty said, she had spoken to Mrs. Meade who read her some extracts from her book, as well as telling Betty to call Alexis, Betty was planning on doing it later since the time difference was drastic. Betty knew that if she needed sufficient ammunition against Melissa, to prevent the woman from taking Rosa away, she would have to find something. While Betty learnt tactics to deal with socialites, that wasn’t enough to go on, so she had to follow up the uneasy feeling in her gut about Melissa.

“why would you want to speak to me about Melissa?” Alexis was trying to act confused, but then her voice dropped an octave and she whispered into the phone “did she do something to DJ?” Betty was about to answer, but she noticed will was now watching her with more interest than the television, so she needed to talk somewhere, privately.

“no, she didn’t,” was all Betty, said before she patted will on his shoulder and pointed towards the television, running into the kitchen, while slamming the door shut behind her. “she said she and Daniel are going to take Rosa away,”

“what? I didn’t know Rosa was back with you guys?”

“she isn’t. neither of us have met her, but Melissa found the trust fund your dad left for her and said payments to a boarding school have been taken out.” Betty heard a soft grunt of anger on the line and was half expecting Alexis to start yelling about how much a bitch Melissa was over the phone.

“how could she do that? Does Daniel know she, did it?” Alexis asked, her voice low and panicky.

“no, he doesn’t know, and the woman has more connections than Wilhelmina. I wondered if it was something to do with Wilhelmina?”

“no, I don’t think so. Wilhelmina is living a happily married life with Connor and with her own magazine safely in her clutches-,” Alexis scowled at the thought of it.

“are you sure it isn’t anything to do with her? she was threatened that Rosa would want the shares in Meade,”

“I am sure, she is content running her own one, she wouldn’t have any reason to get annoyed at Daniel.”

“right… Alexis, what is going on?” Betty was terrified of finding out the truth. It was one thing if Wilhelmina was blackmailing and scheming, since Betty had managed to actually reason with the woman, also after Connor’s arrival into her life she wasn’t so diabolical. If it was something else, then Betty wouldn’t know where to turn.

“what do you mean? DJ ran away, I am helping my mom with Meade in New York at the moment.”

“no, I don’t mean that. Alexis there is something going on. I want to find Rosa, but I don’t think that is a reality at the moment. Then Melissa and Daniel turn up in London, she announces regardless of what happens they are staying with plans to adopt Rosa. She seems to know something I don’t. then DJ shows up, saying he didn’t know anything about your transformation, which is why he ran away, I have to play mediator, only to discover that he has been in contact with you all this time. I do have my own life, which I would like to get back to- so please tell me what is going on!” Betty said, her voice raising towards the end of the speech, although she hushed back down to a whisper when she saw William outside the kitchen door.

Betty put her finger to her lips, listening to Alexis sigh on the other end of the line. Betty ushered William back into the living room, turning on a film, before walking back into the kitchen.

“it is true, DJ didn’t know about it. his grandparents asked me not to tell him, since he was still coping with the loss of his mom, so I didn’t. when Daniel came to stay DJ still thought he was his father, and we kept it that he lived with his grandparents and saw Daniel when he was in France. Anyway, Daniel met Melissa at Paris fashion week, she was one of the models,”

“she said she gave up modelling years ago,” Betty had listened to Melissa’s many boastings about how she used to be a supermodel, however didn’t continue when she got the job as EIC of a major French fashion magazine. Betty hadn’t heard of her talking about doing any modelling since then.

“yeah, well, she hadn’t. I saw her on the runway myself. Anyway, she said in an interview that she quit two months before Daniel met her, to start a family life, although she didn’t even have a boyfriend then.”

“what?” Betty knew that Melissa had quit her EIC job before her and Daniel got in a relationship, however Betty didn’t realise that she had quit to pursue a ‘family life’ before she even met Daniel, especially two months in advance. “did she even work between when she met Daniel and quitting her job?”

“no, she stayed with daddy, apparently. That was her story, as well as what the press had to say. It was quite a big scandal- Melissa quit her job, went off the radar for a couple of months, before meeting my brother at a fashion show when she was doing a one-off modelling job.”

“that doesn’t sound like a one-off,” Betty was getting angry. She hadn’t minded so much that DJ had hidden that he was still in contact with his mom, although it would have saved her a lot of hassle- but she was angry with herself. Her gut instincts had been right about Melissa, and she hadn’t done anything about them.

“I know- anyway… Daniel was only in France momentarily, he had just come back from visiting you in London- and then was supposed to go to help mom in New York. but he met Melissa, and they hit off. He had heard of her of course, being big in the fashion industry, but he hadn’t met her in person before. they hit it off, Daniel slept with her on the first date- actually called her back,” Alexis seemed surprised, but it seemed a bit off to Betty. Daniel met her, having heard of her, slept with her (in the usual fashion of all his exploits back when he was in New York) but it developed into an engagement? That isn’t what typically happened with her best friend. she knew Daniel perhaps better than anyone, although they had had sparse contact she still knew the majority of what was going on inside his head.

“did he go back to New York after he met her?”

“yeah, she went with him,” Alexis said, her tone insinuating something grave. Betty didn’t doubt Daniel would do that, Daniel always had a problem with being too impulsive, so that was entirely plausible.

“okay, well that isn’t as weird, it is Daniel we are talking about here-,” Betty heard the slam of the door, as she looked out into the hallway to see if it was Christina, instead it was Melissa, Daniel and DJ. “crap, I have to talk to you later, Alexis,” Betty said hanging up, as she looked at them as they walked through the door. There were still a lot of unanswered questions, such as why Alexis was allowing DJ to still stay with them if he hadn’t run away- even though she was still questioning if DJ had run away.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty.

Daniel and DJ walked into the kitchen, while Betty still had the phone in her hands, having hung up.   
  
“Betty, what are you doing with my phone?” DJ asked, looking confused, and opening his hand for Betty to take it. she remembered DJ was going to say something about Melissa on Friday, but didn’t have the chance to before Daniel walked in. she could find out the real reason he was here.  
  
“your- Alexis called,” she gave a half smile and pressed the phone into DJ’s hands. Betty looked around to see if Melissa was there as well. she hadn’t come into the kitchen yet.  
  
“hey Betty,” Daniel smiled at her, reaching around her to put on the kettle, Daniel had become addicted to tea during his brief stay in the UK.   
  
“hi Daniel, where is Melissa,”  
  
“upstairs, she has a business meeting, and we have some news as well.” he smiled at her. Betty needed to talk to DJ as soon as possible about what was going on with Melissa.  
  
“okay… cool, erm, DJ your mom wanted me to pass on a message for you,” DJ nodded, making to walk out of the room. as far as Betty knew will was still watching the television, waiting for Christina to get back home. Betty went to follow him, but Daniel pulled her back by her elbow, looking hurt.  
  
“don’t you want to know our news?” he asked, his eyes pleading with her. Betty knew she needed to talk to DJ before she lost her neve, and he didn’t want to speak to her. it wasn’t her fault she didn’t have enough time to speak to Alexis about all of it- but the one question she figured DJ would know was: why he was in London.  
  
“erm, sure. Christina will be back soon, but I need to pass on the message from Alexis,” she tried to leave the kitchen again, but Daniel blocked her path. Betty was starting to get annoyed, first he lies to her about Rosa’s trust fund, since Melissa might be the only one who knew what the expenses were for but Daniel knew there was money out of her account.  
  
“why? She is my sister; can’t you tell me in front of DJ?” he was still standing in her way.  
  
“I can, but DJ has left the room and his mom’s message was urgent, I wanted to see if he would talk to her.” Betty said, trying to manoeuvre past Daniel.   
  
“okay, but can you hear what I have to say first- it is really exciting news,” he pushed her shoulder’s gently, guiding her to sit down.  
  
“go on then, tell me. but I need to try and convince DJ to call his mom before Christina gets back,”  
  
“why?”    
  
“I-,” she had really dug herself in a hole with her less than stellar excuses. She needed to talk to DJ about what he knew, what he and Alexis had found out and the real reason why DJ was staying with them. “I need to help Christina unpack, and I have to get up early for work tomorrow, Alexis want’s DJ to call her back today,” Betty could technically say this since Alexis was the one who called DJ in the first place. It was now four in the afternoon, and Christina should have been home already, but the traffic was more than likely awful.  
  
“okay. Well, me and Melissa are staying in London,” Daniel announced, while Betty put on a fake squeal. She knew this already, but Daniel always knew something was up when she reacted to good news without her normal jumping and hugging.  
  
“that is so amazing Daniel! I didn’t know whether or not you were staying,” Betty over enthusiastically threw her arms around Daniel, sharing a hug.  
  
“that isn’t the best part. Betty, me and Melissa have decided to hire a private detective to find Rosa!” he announced beaming, when Betty sat down. Betty felt an icy chill seep through her body. If they did that they would find Rosa, Melissa already knew where the payments went, to the specific boarding school, even. It wouldn’t be long before they tracked her down and took Rosa from her a second time. only it would be worse because Betty would know where her daughter was- but not be allowed to see her. Melissa didn’t look like the sharing type.  
  
So, before Betty could stop herself she had already shouted out an answer “no!” she saw the stunned look on Daniel’s face which registered he had heard her very clearly, she couldn’t excuse it as a slip of the tongue.  
  
“what do you mean, no? don’t you want to find our daughter?” Daniel asked, while Betty knew that a lot of protests she could have to this would make her seem like a terrible mother.  
  
“no- no, I do. But, I don’t want to take her away from her family,”  
  
“well, I actually found out that the trust fund my dad set up for her has had money withdrawn from it. I haven’t been able to access what the expenses were on, but she is only seven and that was only supposed to be in case of emergencies, the parents didn’t even know about it,”  
great, that proved that they were gone- more than the pictures of their roadside memorial. But, Daniel knew- and thus Melissa knew.  
  
“okay, but I want to see her before Melissa does,” Betty knew there was very little else she could do, unless she found Rosa first.  
  
“of course, you are her mother. Although, me and Melissa want to talk to you about what is going to happen after Rosa’s birth,” this was the part when the man she loves and his new piece told her that they wanted to take her baby away again. it was clear that Melissa was the boss in their relationship, so while they might be staying in England for the adoption process then Melissa might decide to drag her off to France or something.   
  
Without saying anything else Betty ran into the living room, DJ was on the couch with will, who was still watching the film Betty had put on. Betty quietly cleared her throat, motioning for DJ to follow her. Betty stepped into the garden with DJ following behind, since Daniel had gone upstairs to talk to Melissa.  
  
“DJ, your mom called. She said she asked you to call her back,” Betty said, folding her arms in front of the guilty teen.  
  
“merde. What did she say?”  
  
“that you have been in contact with her for the entire stay,” Betty said coldly. She really was quite annoyed with all the time she had spent trying to reach Alexis and arrange some kind of peace treaty over the phone.  
  
“Betty, I am sorry. You need to promise not to tell Daniel, okay?” he asked, Betty nodded. She wasn’t going to tell Daniel about any suspicions the other members of the Meade family had about Melissa. He would just get defensive and be less likely to believe them.  
  
“I promise. Your mom told me some stuff, but I want to know why you are here,”  
  
“she didn’t tell me about her being my mama, or about the change,” he waved his hands around while Betty nodded “so, I was mad at her. but, then we found something not good about Melissa, she said that Daniel and Melissa would be moving here so I should go.”  
  
“so… stay here with them because you were mad?” Betty didn’t understand why this was poignant.  
  
“no to do the spying on Melissa, for Alexis. she has done something bad, mama won’t tell me- but she had to go to America to help grandma Claire, so she said I come here.”  
  
“so, you’re a spy for Alexis?” Betty asked. Initial reservation was now exchanged for being impressed. Clever Alexis, although what did she have on Melissa that made her such a threat DJ was supposed to come and spy on her.   
  
“yes. She wants to make sure that Melissa isn’t bad.”   
  
“can I help?” were Betty’s words before her phone beeped, signalling an incoming text message. she didn’t look at it, eagerly awaiting DJ’s answer. Anything to prevent Melissa even going near Rosa.   
  
“erm, I think you need to speak to Alexis about that. I don’t know, I am only here to tell her what I see. Also, to have a holiday,”  
  
“so, you weren’t lying about the holiday bit?” Betty asked, with a hint of a smile on her face. she didn’t want Daniel to get his heart broken by them exposing Melissa- but she didn’t want her anywhere near her baby, or Daniel. because Alexis wouldn’t flag up Melissa unless it was serious, Betty didn’t want Melissa to break Daniel’s heart either.  
  
“not really, I also have a girlfriend here. I haven’t told Alexis about that, though,” Betty grinned at DJ, knowing their conversation wouldn’t look so suspicious if she told Daniel about that.  
  
“I am telling Daniel about that, trust me. okay, thank you DJ, I will talk to Alexis. but she does want you to call her so go do that okay,” Betty reached up to pat him on the shoulder, leading him inside after her.   
  
Daniel was waiting in the kitchen, watching Betty and DJ walk in, their cheeks flushed from the cold weather of the late fall. DJ went back into the living room, Betty still listening for the arrival of Christina. When Betty turned to leave Daniel once again blocked her way, again to talk to her, she assumed he wanted to talk.  
  
“Betty, what is going on?” he asked, leaning against the doorway, while Betty stood next to the counter, trying not to look to eager to escape this room and look at the text whoever had sent her. even if it wasn’t that interesting, she just didn’t want to say something she would accidentally regret.  
  
“I spoke to DJ, he is going to call Alexis,” Betty tried to act nonchalant, although Daniel knew her so well she could tell he didn’t believe her.  
  
“and?”  
  
“erm…” Betty could use the thing about the girlfriend, that would distract Daniel instantly, unless he already knew- then she would have to think of something else. “DJ has a girlfriend, he didn’t want to tell you or even me, because Alexis doesn’t know,”  
  
“oh… but I wasn’t talking about DJ, I was talking about you?”   
  
“what do you mean about me?” she hadn’t been hiding her suspicious behaviour very well, since DJ had caught onto it too. As well as barely speaking to Daniel over the entirety of Christina’s absence.  
  
“you have been acting really weird, almost like you are avoiding me. I came into the kitchen yesterday, and I wanted to talk to you about MODE UK, but you ran out of the room before I could even say hello. you left your toast in the toaster,” Daniel gestured to the appliance for effect. Betty couldn’t tell him the truth, because she had been avoiding him. there just wasn’t a nice way to say it.  
  
“erm, I was a little busy yesterday,”  
  
“it is ever since that damn movie premier, did I do something to make you mad?”  
  
“no, I’m not mad at you,” Betty tried to convince Daniel as well as herself. She was mad, but that stemmed from Melissa’s surprise announcement of them wanting to adopt Rosa, and that Daniel had known more about her trust fund in relation to Rosa’s safety that Betty was ever enlightened to.   
  
“well you are acting like it, ever since we got back from that premier, please let me know if I did something wrong Betty?” Daniel pleaded, forming his ‘puppy dog eyes’ that he so often did when he was trying to elude a telling off from Betty. She didn’t say anything because she knew it was working.  
  
“no, you didn’t, I had a really great time Daniel. just thinking about Rosa is hard for me, I miss her so much. Just I can’t move on without her, and I know it sounds silly, but I always thought there was hope. Then you tell me the thing about withdrawals from her trust fund- I mean how long have you known about it?” Betty asked, looking down at the floor.  
  
“that doesn’t matter,” he tried to look away, Betty guessed it was less of a spontaneous check, she knew it had to be a while before, because he and Melissa had already spoken about what to do when they found Rosa. Betty remembered part of Daniel’s reason for coming to London, to help find Rosa. They might have even known before then, although Daniel didn’t know what the withdrawals were from, he knew that the fund was an emergency one and her adoptive parents weren’t even informed about it.  
  
“it does matter Daniel, how long have you known money has been taken out?”  
  
“only a few weeks, I came here as soon as I found out,”  
  
“so, you didn’t tell me until now, and just showed up in London saying you needed to find Rosa when you knew that there was actually a chance?!” Betty started to raise her voice, her eyes stinging with tears. She hadn’t even considered that they knew for that long, especially since Daniel used to share everything with her. she was the one who had pined for Rosa, not being able to move on in the slightest.   
  
“Betty, I’m sorry. Melissa said that we should actually find her beforehand so we don’t get our hopes up,”  
  
“and then what? What were you going to do? Just turn up and say ‘Betty here is your daughter, oh by the way we are adopting her!’ Betty said, being unable to stop the shouting not to mention the tears that ran down her face.  
  
Daniel paled “how did you know about that?”  
  
“Melissa told me when you found Rosa you were going to adopt her, that is your reason for staying in London,” Betty sighed, feeling more tears cascading down her face. the bitter sting of betrayal.   
  
“Betty, please. It wasn’t my decision to not tell you. I didn’t know what was going on with you, you never said. You could have been married for all I knew and not have a place in your life for Rosa or me anymore,” Daniel tried to say, while Betty stood, gripping the counter for dear life while she tried not to collapse onto the floor. She knew that Melissa would have a big influence as someone trying to act out their own scheme, but she didn’t realise the woman would totally brainwash Daniel into thinking that keeping her in the dark about this was okay.  
  
“I don’t understand Daniel. in what universe, did it seem like a good idea to just keep this a secret? You knew that her emergency trust fund was being used, and you probably even had the numbers for it. you could have found her and probably not even told me until you adopted her,” Betty thought the last bit was a little farfetched, since an adoption would take months, especially back to the original parents.  
  
They had to question why they would give up the child in the first place, whether or not they were suitable parents to look after the child- but then she saw the look on Daniel’s face. it suddenly didn’t seem so farfetched.  
  
“Melissa said it would be easier for you, not to have to go through the adoption process with us, especially since they have grounds for preference on adoption. Such as couples-,”  
  
“so, you weren’t going to tell me? until all the papers were signed? Whose brilliant idea was that? Let me guess, Melissa’s?”  
  
“well, I thought it was a bit drastic, but she is right. They do consider a lot of things in adoption. But, we don’t know whether or not she is still with the original family.” Daniel tried to say, looking as if he was going to cry himself. Many of Betty’s tears had dried up, being replaced with a white-hot anger.   
  
“if you did adopt her, you were just going to say to her one day, this is your actual mother, and have her hate me for not being there?” Betty asked, pursing her lips, stopping tears from brewing up again. she knew this was likely Melissa’s plan.   
  
Betty knew why Melissa hated her, since she had prevented Melissa being the mother of Daniel’s first child, as well as because Betty was Daniel’s first love. But the woman wasn’t evil enough to take Betty’s own child away from her, was she?  
  
“no, that wouldn’t happen at all-,” Daniel insisted although he didn’t look very convinced. Betty could see why, it would appear that she wasn’t looking for Rosa, while Melissa would turn on her dramatic story act about how much strife they went through to find her. it wasn’t fair. Betty knew Daniel wanted Rosa back as much as her, that they both hadn’t forgiven Wilhelmina for that in the first place.  
  
“yes, it would. I would feel like that if it happened to me, you would too. I don’t see how you could do this to me!” Betty felt anger bubbling through the guilt for not telling Daniel when she thought she saw Rosa on the London eye. But things were different then. Betty herself wasn’t sure whether or not she was going mad from missing her little girl, so it wouldn’t be a good idea to tell Daniel and get all excited over what could have turned out to be nothing.   
  
But what Daniel had done (at the hands of Melissa no less) was deceit, whether or not it was intentional Betty didn’t care. But to have Daniel siding with Melissa over the safety of her daughter was too much to bare. Betty knew it was horribly selfish to think about how it was Daniel’s father who caused the problem in the first place, especially since Daniel had been so supportive through her pregnancy.  
  
“Betty, me and Melissa thought it would be for the best, I didn’t think that you would mind, you would still get to see her, if we even end up adopting her,” Daniel said calmly, reaching for Betty, but she pulled away. Betty could only hear the rush of blood as she felt the need to escape. During her little argument with Daniel she had forgotten to notice Christina had gotten back and heard practically the whole argument.  
“no, Daniel- I just can’t!” Betty cried, running out of the house and onto the street in tears.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty.

Daniel watched Betty go, the guilt of his actions weighing heavily on his chest. He didn’t agree with some of what Melissa had suggested, especially if it would distance Betty from the child she had wanted back for so many years since she was taken from them. He did love Melissa, despite her being pushy and annoying sometimes, not to mention she was pretty sure she had her secrets- but so did he. Daniel hadn’t told Melissa how far his relationship with Betty went.  
  
She knew that he loved her, Betty had been his first love, they had had a child together. But as far as Melissa knew any parts of their relationship stopped the day Rosa was adopted.  He didn’t want to anger her further, over the matter of his and Betty’s friendship. He wasn’t stupid, he knew that Melissa wasn’t the biggest fan of Betty- no matter how sweet and loving and kind betty was. Melissa did try to hide it from him, and betty which he knew was worse than being horrible to her face like marc and Amanda were when she first started at MODE. But it was no reason to take her child away.   
  
Daniel had spoken to Melissa about adopting Rosa if she wasn’t with her original parents. Daniel wouldn’t dream of taking Rosa from her new family, however he had found out that expenses were already coming out of her ‘secret’ trust fund. Her adoptive parents hadn’t been informed about it since it was in case of an emergency only.   
  
Daniel had someone legal examine the terms of accessing her trust fund, only to have them inform him that it would only be accessible on the terms of her new legal guardian’s death or incapacitation. Daniel and Melissa knew that Rosa could be adopted then, however they didn’t tell Betty.  
  
He didn’t want to get her hopes up, if it was just a missight by the terms of her inheritance, but he also wanted it to be something special for Betty. She had only met Rosa once, when she was born- ever since she had just wanted to see her daughter again, and make sure she was okay. Daniel however, as much as Melissa was eager to start their family, including helping him find Rosa. But Daniel wanted Betty to meet Rosa first, it was her baby- she deserved that.   
  
Which is why he felt so guilty, he didn’t know what Melissa had told Betty about their plans to adopt Rosa, she wouldn’t be there full time, going back and forth between Betty and him. although, he hadn’t told Melissa that yet he was happy to have Betty live with him if it meant she was closer to his daughter. It would also be that he would be near his best friend.   
  
Half of why Daniel hadn’t taken that much notice until this day of Betty’s avoidance is because he was sort of avoiding her. it was surprising when it came of consequence that she was mad about something completely different, although he had reason to believe why she would be mad at him.  
  
They had been at the premier, both of them putting on the act that had been well played out throughout the years about what great friends they are, but Daniel came very close to kissing Betty. They had finished watching the screening, while they stepped outside. DJ had gotten his phone out again, while Betty sleepily leant on Daniel. Daniel had looked at his tired, best friend who looked so beautiful, and sexy in the stunning purple dress she had put on for the occasion as she smiled up at him. he had felt the overwhelming desire to close the small distance and kiss her. but, he couldn’t. he had Melissa, that wouldn’t be fair to her. she had always remained faithful to him, putting up with the constant transitioning between France and New York.  
  
Christina burst through the kitchen door, looking furious. And at him.   
  
“what the hell did you do? Betty was in tears, she ran out of the house, it is pouring with rain!” Christina said, looking angrier by the second, waving her hands about so that Daniel noticed the sparkly new ring.  
  
“Christina, did you get engaged?” he asked, the thought of it distracting momentarily from the problems with Betty.  
  
“what? Don’t change the subject Meade! I want to know why me best friend was in tears?” she calmed down for a moment to let Daniel see it was, indeed an engagement ring.  
  
“we were talking about Rosa-,”  
  
“blimey, did she tell you?” Christina blurted out, leaving Daniel wondering if Betty had her own secrets.  
  
“what? Tell me what?”  
  
“nothing…” she raised her eyebrows.  
  
“Christina…” his voice was cold, he was not just worried about Betty, he was worried about what she had hid from him.  
  
“I found out that Rosa’s adoptive parents died, I called her on Friday night. I wondered if she had told you, we weren’t completely sure, so…”  
  
“they’re dead?” Daniel didn’t know what to think about that, but if it was true, then it meant they could adopt Rosa, unless she had already been adopted, maybe by another member of Rosa’s adoptive family.  
  
“well, I don’t know if it is definitely them, but I showed Betty a picture from their memorial and gave her their names. She said it was them.”  
  
“can I see?” Daniel asked turning his head to see whether or not Betty was correct. It was in 2009, while Rosa was adopted in late 2007 she would have been nearly two years old so there wasn’t much change to the couple’s appearance. In the memoriam photo Christina showed, it seemed there was no change.  
  
“there was also an article,” she loaded it on her phone, where it didn’t just show the picture of the people, but a family photo of them and Rosa. They didn’t name Rosa- for legal reasons, but it was her.  
  
“it was just them who- who…?” Daniel said, his voice choking up with the scenario he never dared to imagine.  
  
“no- no it was just them. It said their daughter survived, not even having to go to hospital. Also, her trust fund wouldn’t have been able to been accessed without her.”  
  
“oh, okay. How do you know?” Daniel wondered whether or not Christina was some sort of informant for matters about Rosa, but he couldn’t talk. he had kept other definitive information from her, but much further in advance.  
  
“I was looking up about legal stuff, I only looked it up for Betty. She has dreamt about meeting Rosa for the entire four years- but we only found out on Friday. Although she did say that she saw the article when you married molly, but it didn’t have all the information then- not to mention she didn’t think it would be relevant. No parent imagines their child would be in a road accident.” Christina explained. One part of Daniel, who was mad at Betty could have argued that if she told him about it they could have found Rosa, while him and her had a chance of being together.   
  
But he knew that was ridiculous to think that, she didn’t know anything else about it. she wouldn’t interrupt his wedding day to tell him about a random article, especially when he was miserable enough since molly was dying from cancer. It was ridiculous to put any blame on Betty.  
  
“I know, I am sorry. I didn’t tell her about something, about how Melissa’s trust fund had been accessed and it could only be accessed after the death of her adoptive parents. So, I came to London knowing there was a chance we might find her. then Melissa told Betty that we planned to adopt Rosa, and we did because it would be easier, but she was going to live with Betty too,”  
  
“aye, Daniel- you know the woman has it out for Betty! She probably said she was going to whisk Rosa off to France or something. You need to tell her, yourself.”  
  
“I know, I am so sorry.” Daniel apologised while Christina looked around, waiting for Andrew to walk in with William.  
  
“you don’t need to say sorry to me, luv. And I wouldn’t go running off after Betty, she needs some time to cool off. So, I have an announcement.” She pointed to the ring on her finger. “I am engaged! As soon as we find Betty we can sort this whole mess,” she smiled as Daniel hugged Christina momentarily, shaking hands with Andrew.  
  
“did you buy champagne, because I haven’t really been prepared for a good surprise?” Daniel asked, smiling at the couple, as little Will, threw himself at his mother’s ankles.  
  
“mommy, are you back?”  
  
“yes, and I brought back Andrew!” Christina chuckled, as Andrew picked up William. Christina produced a bottle of champagne from her bag, handing it over to Daniel.   
  
“okay, did Betty take her phone?”  
  
“she will come back in her own time… don’t worry about her, I would be more worried about yourself if you went after her. she seemed so mad, anyway, let’s celebrate!” Christina said, knowing Betty would be okay. She didn’t have anywhere else to go so she would be back eventually. But she did need time to cool off, when she saw Rosa Betty nearly fainted on the spot, she wouldn’t react well to having such precious information kept from her by one of the people she trusted most in the world.   
  
Daniel watched the celebrations when Melissa finally came downstairs, but he was on the side-lines. He wanted to find Betty and make sure she would be okay. He knew that she could take care of herself, she was a Queens girl after all. But, she was stressed, and distraught. It wouldn’t be fair to her to let her wander around by herself, especially as he hadn’t exactly said sorry to her.  
  
Daniel noticed something buzzing, which was Betty’s phone, right next to him on the counter. He picked it up, looking at the sender. It was Alexis, maybe Daniel could speak to Alexis beforehand, to figure out what the DJ thing was about. Daniel would believe that he had a girlfriend, but he still was a little worried why DJ was still here. Alexis was supposed to go to New York when Melissa left to come here, but had she delayed her trip because of DJ running away. He had so many questions for his sister.  
  
he looked on the small screen, there was a couple of texts from Alexis when Betty had been trying to figure out why DJ was still here, but there were newer ones. Daniel knew Betty’s phone password, mainly because she had told him so he could look at some of her contacts. Also, they were best friends, they had nothing to hide. In theory.  
  
Alexis (4:19pm): have you seen it? Please reply.  
  
Daniel scrolled up to see the previous text, it was a jpeg. image. Maybe it would explain what was going on, especially with DJ and all the secrets. He downloaded it, looking over at the oblivious people, then at the phone screen of the loading image. Maybe it wouldn’t be a good idea to open it here, especially if it was something important. He quickly made an excuse, dodging Melissa and went in the living room. only will was there, and he was currently colouring in using brand new pencils at the coffee table.  
  
The picture had loaded, flashing up on the screen, it wasn’t a very good picture having the focus so far away, but he zoomed in. it was Melissa, talking to a man. Why was Alexis sending Betty pictures of Melissa? This one looked to be from this time last year, since Melissa dyed her hair silver for a charity thing. Who was she talking to? Daniel zoomed in a bit more, thinking the man familiar. He was.  
  
It was Connor. That time last year, why was Melissa talking to Connor? Of all people, she didn’t know him well enough to have an impromptu rendezvous outside what looked to be a deli? This was in New York, Daniel realised, when they went there for Christmas- a month in advance for work. Daniel knew Melissa would have met Connor occasionally, after all she did work in publishing too. But normally meetings, that were out of benefit’s or balls or galas didn’t occur outside deli shops in what appeared to be Brooklyn. He looked around the picture for other people he recognised, eventually coming to land on a blonde woman, clutching Connor’s arm.  He zoomed in a bit more, her features hidden by the fluffy scarf around her neck. He knew that woman.  
  
It was molly.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty.

Betty ran out onto the sidewalk, looking at the road slick with the heavy rain that had started to fall. She was unsteady, however glad she had worn her fluffy boots from a few years ago, for her escape. Betty didn’t know what to do. She wanted to run as far away as possible, from the lies and the withering of hope of ever getting Rosa back. She knew the adoptive parents were dead, but it didn’t change that she couldn’t just waltz in and ask for her daughter back.  
  
But, Melissa was acting like she could. Not only that but she was acting as if Betty would be lucky to spend any time with her. Melissa may be marrying Daniel (something Betty had never quite got over) but now she would try and get her child away from her.   
  
Betty knew Melissa’s type. She knew Melissa wasn’t the kind to be actually nice to people she despised. Unfortunately, that was Betty. Melissa wanted Daniel to be her husband. She wanted kids. Daniel wanted Rosa back, but so did Betty. This posed a threat to Melissa. Solution: take mother away from her child to prove that Melissa got everything she wanted.  
  
The rain was getting heavier now, plastering her hair to her head, however her thick red woollen coat that by some miracle she had managed to grab on her way out prevented the rain from drenching the rest of her.  
  
She finished running, knowing it wouldn’t solve anything, however she didn’t want to be there anymore. she felt betrayed by Daniel, and Melissa (who she had never really trusted in the first place) she disliked more than Wilhelmina. Betty wondered then what Alexis’s message was, maybe it was more to do with their ongoing suspicions about Melissa. Betty felt in her pockets, only finding tissues, and a few pounds rattling around.  
She threw her hands up in frustration, not only did she forget her phone, but she could remember where she left it. in the kitchen, where anyone could see it. although it was only Christina and Daniel who knew how to get into her phone, Daniel might have answered it if Alexis called… leading him to find the text. He wouldn’t be very happy to have them conspiring against his fiancée, no matter how shady she was. Betty sighed, not being ready to run back to the house just yet. You could get free tap water at most places, and although she was dressed a bit like when she started at MODE, she had her hair nicely curled, and no braces, so she didn’t look a complete mess.  
  
She turned onto a side street, where the high walls protected her from the bitter winds. Betty sighed, sticking her hands in her pockets, keeping them warm. A small child streaked past her, while Betty walked slowly, thinking about Rosa. She couldn’t believe Daniel would back the poisonous Melissa up. Even if it would be easier for them to adopt her since they were technically a family, or one in the making. It was her baby, she carried Rosa for nine months. There wasn’t a reason why Daniel should get to live with her, while Betty couldn’t because Melissa was too jealous to let that happen.  
  
She looked ahead, seeing the little girl slip and fall. Betty panicked, running over to her. where were her parents? Why was she running in the wet streets (despite Betty doing the exact same thing, and in much less sensible footwear)? Betty ran through the rain to her side, the blood pounding in her ears, as she looked at the little girl- glancing up at the sight of her and bursting into tears.  
  
“oh, my gosh! Are you okay?” Betty knelt next to her as the girl sat up, still crying. Betty looked closer at her features, seeing the little girl had dark hair and blue eyes… not to mention the same necklace as her. It was Rosa, possibly. Maybe certainly because she looked like a mirror image of Betty, only with Daniel’s eyes- including the little red glasses, which were lying on the ground about a foot away.   
  
Her own daughter had fallen over and was now in tears. She looked at Betty, who took off her coat, using it to shield the little girl, as she knelt on the wet ground. Betty found herself close to tears, blearily glancing through her rain specked glasses. She saw another woman, and a little girl with her. the blonde girl, the same one that they had seen on the London eye- this little girl was definitely Rosa.   
  
Betty reached over to get the girls glasses, leaning over her hurt arm. She handed them back to the little girl, however Betty noticed she didn’t try to reach for them, instead leaning against Betty, still sobbing.  
  
“my arm h-hurts!” she cried, Betty’s coat protecting her from the rain somewhat. Betty looked at her arm, it seemed to be slightly more floppy than the other one, although she seemed to not dare move both. It could be broken.  
  
Betty felt a rush of guilt for the thousandth time that day, she could have stopped Rosa from falling and hurting her arm. She could have stopped her getting hurt, Betty felt her own tears run down her face, as she looked at Rosa still crying. Betty remembered the tissues in her pocket, gently wiping Rosa’s eyes with one of them, to try and dry the tears.   
  
She would have helped even if it wasn’t her daughter, because despite the child looking near identical to her, including having her necklace Betty wasn’t certain. The people eventually got over there, where the woman stood in front of them her face a mixture of livid and scared.  
“what did you do?” she asked, while Betty blanked, unable to conceive the idea of doing something to hurt her.  
  
“she fell, I put my coat around her. I think she broke her arm, I don’t know, I’m not a doctor,” Betty said, still crying. The woman’s face softened, seeing Betty’s tears and the genuine concern.  
  
She too knelt down in front of Rosa. “Rosa, does it hurt?” Rosa nodded, pressing her lips together. Betty was impressed she hadn’t passed out from the pain of it, as Rosa leant against her side. the little blonde girl by her side piped up.  
  
“Jane, of course it would hurt if she broke her arm,”  
  
“Madison, that is enough. Do you have your phone on you?”  
  
“yes, I do.”   
  
“call an ambulance girl!” the woman commanded, while Madison, looking scared immediately typed the number into the phone, handing it to Jane as it rung.  
  
“hello, a seven-year-old girl, has fallen, she has a suspected broken arm.” She announced, Betty assumed she must be some kind of nurse since she knew what to say to the dispatcher, then started to give details of the location, while Betty cradled Rosa. Betty knew that she would have run over to help even if she didn’t know it was her daughter, she did that in the first place. She didn’t know it was Rosa who had fallen.  
  
Jane got off the phone, not wanting to move Rosa, since it would be too painful. “can you stand up, sweetheart?” Jane asked, kneeling in front of them both. Betty looked at Jane, noting her plain appearance. She must have been in her forties, with brown hair pulled back tightly on her head, and a dumpy appearance. But she did have beautiful green eyes.  
  
“I don’t think so,” she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper.  “I am sitting on this lady’s coat,” she smiled up at Betty, who bit the inside of her cheek to stop more tears from flowing. Jane smiled slightly at Betty, who nodded.  
  
“erm, I’m Betty Suarez, I work for Dunne publishing.” Betty explained, she didn’t think about Rosa having her last name or any connection to her, even though Betty would very much like to know if she was Rosa’s mother, she didn’t think it would be okay for her to just propose it as a realistic thing, although Betty was aware it could be very real indeed.   
  
“is she your mom?” Madison asked outright, pointing at Betty while angling her head towards Rosa. Rosa shook her head, looking towards Jane.  
  
“Madison, enough with the silly questions. Come on, luv, do you want to go back home?” at the thought of that being a silly question was enough to make Betty cry even more. it appeared Rosa had kept her last name, Rosa could definitely be her daughter.   
  
“no, I want to come with Rosa,” Madison protested, grumpily. She folded her arms across her chest, pouting. Betty smiled slightly, thinking how much it reminded her of Amanda.  
  
“I don’t think they will let you ride in the ambulance, it is family only,” Jane assured a sulky Madison, while Rosa burst into a fresh flood of tears.  
  
“but I don’t have any family! I don’t want to go alone!” Rosa cried, Betty once again wiping the tears from her eyes since she didn’t want Rosa to do it herself with her possibly broken arm.  
  
“you won’t go alone, you will have me,” Jane crouched down to Rosa’s level as she raised her tearstained face to Jane.   
  
“I want a mum,” Rosa snuffled into Betty’s t-shirt, not loud enough for Jane to hear but Betty could hear plenty well. she couldn’t help but cry too, she wanted to tell Rosa so much that she had a mother, one who she was currently sitting on a drenched sidewalk with. But, Betty couldn’t. she would be seen as crazy, especially since she wasn’t sure. This child could just be an exact copy of Rosa, even though she was in a boarding school uniform, the same one that Melissa told Betty Rosa belonged to.  
  
“Rosa, don’t worry about it. I need to take Madison back, but I can’t just leave you here,” Rosa looked at Betty, who was still crying somewhat.   
  
“yes, you can, I am fine. Right, Mrs. Suarez?” Rosa asked Betty, but she didn’t say anything. She didn’t want to be left alone with Rosa,  
because she was worried she might tell her she thought she was her daughter. And that wouldn’t be a good idea.  
  
“Rosa, I don’t know you. you mustn’t be left alone with strangers, unless they are there to help, such as at school or in the hospital. And it is miss. Suarez.” Betty assured her, she didn’t want her daughter to trust just anyone.  
  
“quite right, do you have a child yourself, luv?” Jane asked, but that only concluded with Betty bursting into more tears.   
  
Betty shook them away, before reaching into her coat pocket for something. “I do have a business card,” she handed it over to Jane who nodded.  
“wow, this is posh luv.”  
  
“thank you, but I used to work at MODE,” Betty said smiling at Jane, who seemed to have an air of comfort about her, as if you could trust her. Betty guessed that she was since she was looking after Rosa and Madison. At the mention of MODE Madison’s eyes went wide and she too sat on the pavement, joining Rosa on Betty’s coat, which had become some sort of makeshift picnic blanket.   
  
“no way! In London?”  
  
“no, I used to live in New York, but my family is from Mexico.” Betty said, however Madison’s attentions had been distracted to something else.  
“did you work with Daniel Meade? Did you see Alexis Meade?” she asked, and Betty realised that Madison was already well versed on matters of the Meade’s, even if some stuff occurred before she was born.   
  
“he was my boss, he is actually ro-,” Betty stopped herself, before she said too much, such as revealing the paternity of Rosa. Madison caught onto something Betty wasn’t telling them, and immediately started to question her. she did remind Betty a lot of Amanda.  
  
“oh, my god! you slept with him!” Madison gasped, while Betty was shocked, how did Madison know that kind of language? Rosa was only seven and they appeared to be the same age.  
  
“Madison!” Jane said, equally as appalled, while Rosa looked confused. Thank god, her baby was still innocent.   
  
“sorry, but it is written all over her face.” Madison shrugged, patting Rosa’s arm. Rosa rested her head against Betty’s shoulder, looking miserable.  
  
“Jane, I don’t feel well- it really hurts!” Rosa started to cry again, using Betty’s supply of tissues again.   
  
“what do you feel?” Jane crouched down again, pressing her palm to Rosa’s forehead.  
  
“I feel all dizzy, when are the hospital people going to get here?” she kept crying, while Jane looked even more concerned.  
  
“did she hit her head?”  
  
“I don’t know, I was walking down and she ran ahead of me. I looked up and saw she was lying on the ground.” Betty said, her breathing coming out rapidly as she felt more and more panicked, especially since Rosa was becoming more and more listless. Soon Betty heard the sirens of the ambulance as it rounded the corner and pulled up between the sides of two large building.  
  
Soon the paramedics got out of the ambulance, running up to the side, where Betty was detached from the semi-conscious Rosa. She had never been more scared in her life and felt as if her heart was about to beat out of her chest, as well as the tears that were streaking down her face. worse yet, she could barely breathe with the fear, and the misery that she wasn’t going to get to go with Rosa to the hospital. She might never get to see her again.   
  
Betty missed the warmth of Rosa being right next to her when she was lifted into the ambulance by the paramedics. She had asked for all she wanted, which was to see Rosa make sure she was alive and well. but she wasn’t, she had broken her arm, being semi-conscious as she was lifted into the ambulance.  
  
Betty couldn’t stand her baby being in pain, she watched as Jane spoke to the ambulance people who were murmuring over Rosa. Jane suddenly came up to the side of Betty, pulling her slightly away from an intrigued Madison. Betty looked over at Jane, confused.  
  
“what is going on?” she asked, looking Jane in the eyes before Jane leant over to whisper to her.  
  
“I want you to go in the ambulance,”  
  
“but- but I don’t know her, I just found her-,” Betty tried to argue, but Jane’s piercing green eyes told Betty she knew the truth.  
  
“I will be there too. But I think we need to do a test. You think you are her mother, don’t you?” Jane asked. Betty nodded.  
  
They got into the ambulance, just Jane, as Betty delivered Madison back to the boarding school, before meeting them at the hospital. It was surreal to appear at the front desk, and have the nurse lead her straight through, as she was indeed the mother of Rosa Suarez. They were also going to do a DNA test just to confirm it.   
  
Betty walked through the sterilized halls, completely forgetting her argument with Daniel, since she was living in a strange fantasy land between dream and nightmare. She saw Jane off a little section in the ER, Betty ran over to her.  
  
“Jane, thank you so much for letting me be here!” said Betty, as Jane handed her back her damp ruined coat. But it was worth ruining a $500 coat for the chance to meet her daughter. She looked around, not seeing a trace of Rosa anywhere. “where is she?”  
  
“getting it plastered. You were right, it was a break.” She pursed her lips before taking hold of Betty’s shoulder, leading her to sit in a chair.  
  
“is she okay?”  
  
“she passed out from the pain, but they are sorting it out. However, she will be groggy for a while,” Jane explained, looking at Betty with a scrutinising look on her face. “I guess you want to know the million dollar question: how did I know?” Betty nodded.  
  
“I am not sure, but I had my suspicions.” Betty explained, although Jane spoke again.  
  
“I used to know the family who adopted her, they explained who she was adopted from, as it was from Wilhelmina. in Rosa’s adoption, they were looking into it since there were things didn’t add up. Such as the inheritance. They began to believe that it wasn’t exactly a decision. Am I right?”  
  
“yes. We didn’t have a decision, and we couldn’t do much at that time. when did you speak to her parents, I thought they died when she was nearly two?” Jane raised an eyebrow, clearly intrigued to the source of the information.  
  
“this was a long time ago. Then, just after Rosa’s first birthday, they found a trust fund when going through the legal papers, but they couldn’t access it. however, they could access her birth certificate, you are the mother, Daniel Meade is the father?” Betty nodded. “well, when we saw you on the London eye- I didn’t know it was you, but you freaked out, and you looked like her. I recognised you after that, as well as Daniel.”  
  
“so, you knew?”  
  
“yes. To some degree, but it is difficult to put these things into motion, since you had all but disappeared off the radar. I didn’t think I would see you again, however some lady came in asking about her trust fund. I didn’t tell her much, because it wasn’t my place to tell, although she managed to find out that they were from boarding school expenses.” Jane explained. Betty felt her blood boil in anger, stupid meddling Melissa. Why did she have to come and try and ruin Betty’s life? It wasn’t Betty’s fault that Daniel hadn’t met Melissa first, although if Betty was being honest if Daniel had met Melissa first, he would have slept with her and never called her back. That would be ironic.   
  
“right… do you think they could do the test here?”  
  
“yes, then we can go and see Rosa. She still is a bit groggy from the anaesthetic.” Betty nodded, walking down the hallways with Jane walking beside her.  
  
“sorry I took so long, Madison was asking me 101 questions, I didn’t know how to answer most of them,” Betty said, wringing her hands in front of her. Jane chuckled.   
  
“you are so much like her! I just hope it is the right Betty Suarez,” she sighed looking at the short figure of Betty running along beside her.  
  
“erm… I can tell you what I know.” Jane nodded at her, smoothing out her own coat.  
  
“that would be helpful,”  
  
“I gave birth to Rosa Claire Suarez at 3:30 in the morning on October the seventh 2007, she weighed six pounds and four ounces- very adorable, adopted when she was only a week old. She got adopted where neither me or Daniel wanted her to be. But we had to, since his father was Bradford Meade, meaning Daniel couldn’t keep an illegitimate child, especially with the one secretary hired so that he wouldn’t sleep with them.” Betty gave a cold chuckle. “that worked, but it is far too complicated to tell you everything,”  
  
“Betty, I looked over her birth certificate, and that sounds like the baby you are describing. How did you know about her parent’s death? I didn’t know you were looking for her?”  
  
“I wasn’t as such. I got a job here, so I moved. I didn’t want to separate Rosa from her original family, then I saw her at the museum and on the London eye. I wondered what she was doing in a boarding school, since the people who adopted her didn’t have enough money to send her there,” before Betty knew it she had practically explained the whole situation, without the whole Daniel-Melissa drama because she actually wanted to see her daughter. They got the samples for the DNA test, which they were waiting on the speedy results, probably because it was a child.   
  
Betty finally got to go and see Rosa. Although she had been cradling her not an hour before, she didn’t feel right having the official meeting without Daniel.   
  
Betty stopped outside the cubicle, where Rosa was still coming out of the anaesthetic. Betty couldn’t part the curtain, there were too many things going through her mind at that point in time, it didn’t seem real any more. this is what she had wanted for years, but she was terrified. She wasn’t scared of seeing Rosa, she was a sweetie, also she already liked Betty, even without knowing the parental ties to her- but she was scared of how Daniel was going to react. He would know that she had seen Rosa, and he would get mad. It would just sum up everything Melissa threatened.  
  
They weren’t going to tell Rosa Betty was her mother straight away, that wouldn’t be fair, especially since they didn’t have the results of the DNA test, so it was uncertain. At the moment, she would try to visit as the kind stranger who saved Rosa, without bursting into tears and giving away the whole thing.   
  
Betty stepped into the small room, seeing Rosa beaming at her with a gigantic smile on her face.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty.

Sitting beside Rosa’s bed, Betty couldn’t help but cry, she was reunited- even though they hadn’t had the results Betty was sure this was her daughter.   
  
Rosa smiled at her, while Betty smiled at her, Jane took the seat on the other side.  
  
“hello. Jane, did you see my cast- it is red! That is my favourite colour,” she said, although she wasn’t necessarily looking at Jane.  
  
“I know, very dashing. You remember Betty, don’t you. she helped you,”  
  
“yes, thank you Betty.” Rosa paused, staring into Betty’s eyes, while Betty looked into Rosa’s. they were the exact colour of Daniel’s eyes as Rosa stopped smiling. “why do you have the same last name as me?”   
  
Betty froze, they couldn’t tell her anything until they knew the results. “erm… people have the same last name, sometimes Rosa! I have the same one as you, but where I grew up there were lots of other people with the same name as me!” Betty said, smiling nervously between Jane and Rosa.  
  
“okay, what is your favourite colour Betty?”  
  
“red, like you! see my glasses? They are red,” Betty took them off her face, giving them to Rosa, as she lost hers.  
  
“mine are broken,” she sighed, looking down at Betty’s glasses in her hand, and putting them lopsidedly on her face. Betty chuckled.  
  
“can you see?”  
  
“yes!” Rosa said, her voice full of surprise. Betty’s prescription hadn’t changed much since she was a little girl, although they were probably a lot stronger than Rosa’s glasses. “well sort of, it is a bit fuzzy, but less than without them,” she took them off, rubbing her head slightly.  
  
“that is because I am older, you don’t want to hurt your eyes though!” Betty took them back, putting them back on her own head before smiling again at Rosa.  
  
For the next two hours, they talked about everything they could think of, in some sort of miracle Rosa wasn’t tired at all, however Jane was falling asleep in the chair. Suddenly, a nurse burst into the room, having to check Rosa over to make sure she hadn’t got a concussion. While that was happening, Jane woke up, while Betty stepped out of the curtained off partition, then was cornered by another nurse.  
  
“are you Betty Suarez, testing for a DNA test to determine the parentage of Rosa Suarez?” Betty nodded, holding her finger to her lips, seeing as the partition was only divided by a thin curtain. Betty followed the nurse when she led Betty down a hallway to an official looking office.  
  
Unlike the rest of the children’s ward it was sterile, clean with whitewashed walls and an air of misfortune. Betty began to panic, even if she was certain that Rosa was her daughter there was always room for mistakes or miscalculations.  
  
If Rosa wasn’t her Rosa then Betty would have to start again, which would cause her more heartbreak than necessary. Maybe this is why Daniel didn’t tell her, because she was Rosa’s mother and she would be too involved. She couldn’t cope with getting her heart broken again.   
  
“so, Ms. Suarez, are you ready to hear the results?” Betty nodded, biting her lip, fearing the worst.  
  
“yes,” the nurse handed Betty over a thin piece of paper, much reminding Betty of when she got her grades from high school, only without the raucous students ‘celebrating’ because they had failed everything.  
  
She glanced at it, almost afraid the paper would bite her, she could hear her heart pounding a tattoo against her rib cage. She glanced again.   
She was Rosa’s mother. Betty let out the breath that she had been aware she was holding, nodded at the nurse, tears already running down her face.  
  
“I am! Thank you!” Betty cried, before she practically sprinted out of the room, the nurse not calling after her at all. Betty got to the curtained off bit, surprised that she had even managed to find her way back to the little room without any hassle.   
  
Betty stepped inside, the nurse was gone while Jane spoke to Rosa. They both glanced up at Betty when she stepped in although Betty tried to hide the thin piece of paper she didn’t do anything to stop the massive smile on her face. Rosa didn’t look as delighted, she looked rather concerned instead.  
  
Before Betty got a chance to say anything, it was obvious Rosa had seen Betty was holding an official looking document, instead stared straight at her. “are you my mum?” she asked, without skipping a beat.   
  
Daniel was a nervous wreck, already having called the police twice and around several hospitals to ensure Betty was okay. But she hadn’t come back, she hadn’t returned to the house. Even though it was now two in the morning, she wasn’t here.   
  
Christina had suggested multiple scenarios, such as Betty met someone and hit it off- but that thought made him sick to his stomach so he didn’t think about that. She did have other friends, although Christina didn’t know anyone Betty was so close to she could crash at their place. But, Betty didn’t stay out all night (with the exception of when she was with him) it just wasn’t like her. that is why he was so panicked. She was upset, she could have gone anywhere.  
  
But that wasn’t the only reason why he was panicked. The picture had made him jump out of his skin, actually dropping the phone onto his foot. He scanned the image, the time stamp, everything. But he didn’t text Alexis back. She had known him since he was born, she would be able to tell it was him, even over a text message.  
  
It was molly, he had blinked, even ran to the bathroom to splash water in his face. it was his dead wife talking to his current fiancée, heck, he and Melissa were dating a year ago, quite seriously as well. she knew about molly, even though molly had never met anyone else from his family apart from his mom. Why was Melissa talking to her? Daniel had even asked Melissa if she had dyed her hair grey any other time in her life, but it was just that time. he thought it might be a trick of the light, but the time stamp proved that to be false. It was last year, molly was supposed to be dead, and not friendly with Connor ever since she broke it off.   
  
He wanted to ask Betty why Alexis was sending these to her, since he didn’t dare question Melissa. It could all be a big misunderstanding. What if molly had a twin sister? He didn’t meet her family, so it could be possible, but she would tell him something as important as that- surely? Christina told Daniel to let her cool off for a bit, Daniel reluctantly agreeing since an angry Betty wasn’t the best person to be around (especially if he was the one to annoy her) but he didn’t want his best friend to be in danger.   
  
He realised what he did, keeping the information from her was wrong- especially since there was more he hadn’t told her, about the trust fund only being accessible when her new legal guardians died or where incapacitated. But, Betty already knew that they were, thanks to the combined team of her and Christina. He did something wrong, but half of what Betty got so upset about he guessed Melissa had told her. for example, about the adoption process he and Melissa thought about doing.   
  
Betty seemed to assume that they would be completely taking Rosa from her, but he wasn’t. that was never part of the plan. He and Melissa would find it easier to adopt Rosa, since they were a couple as well as Melissa stating in several interviews her reason for quitting being the EIC. They could adopt her, but she was still Betty’s daughter, she wasn’t something that could just be passed around. They would adopt her so Betty could see Rosa whenever she liked.  
  
Daniel cared that Melissa wanted a family (although he was starting to question the woman herself after seeing the picture Alexis sent Betty) but when it came to Rosa, Melissa wasn’t in charge. Betty was. She was her mother, Melissa would be her step mother, however Betty was the one that had waited alongside him to see Rosa for seven years, Melissa had only known about her for 1 and a half- Daniel hadn’t told her about Rosa straight away- but it didn’t matter how invested in his life Melissa was it wouldn’t change Betty being Rosa’s mother.   
  
It was getting later and later, Daniel eventually started drifting off as he sat on the couch, wrapped in Betty’s bedding which she had brought downstairs. But, the sleep was short lived, since any noise from the house settling to the quiet groan of water pipes jolted him from his sleep, brought him right back to thinking about Betty. It was unbearable, when she had been gone a few hours and the party ended he went outside, wandering the streets for a bit to see if she was there. Visions swirled in his mind of Betty being attacked that just made him panic more. he even went as far as to call her phone a couple of times, although he had the said phone in his hand.  
  
There was other news of the non-Betty related kind, such as Christina was moving out with Andrew and William, soon to be wed. Daniel knew she would want Betty as her maid of honour, but they had to find her first to tell her the happy news. As soon as Christina announced she would be moving out Melissa already made an offer on the house, seeing as they hadn’t found one they wanted yet. Christina didn’t say yes, but she didn’t say no either- probably because she knew it would be a sensible option for all of them, except for Betty. Betty didn’t have anywhere else to live, and Christina’s new place wasn’t big enough for all of them.  
  
Daniel wanted to suggest Betty living with them, but he knew Melissa wouldn’t be likely to agree, even if he refused to marry her without it. he didn’t want to be in this house without Betty, although he wasn’t sure Betty would want to live with them, even if they were looking after Rosa.

He just sat there, waiting for his best friend to return home.

  
Betty woke up for the sixth time that night, waiting for the dream to be over and to be jolted into the harsh reality. But she wasn’t, she woke up sitting in the chair by Rosa’s bed, who was fast asleep with a red cast on. Her daughter. Her little girl.   
  
Betty couldn’t believe it, it was an actual miracle, she spent half the night talking with Jane in-between tears of happiness. She found Rosa again.   
  
But, Rosa did know. Betty had no choice but to tell her the truth when she asked outright because of the loudmouthed nurse. Betty didn’t know what to expect from Rosa, maybe anger that she hadn’t shown up until then- maybe shock? She was in shock, but smiling, talking to Betty until she fell asleep later in the evening. Betty sat by her bedside, not wanting to move although she wondered if anyone would be looking for her, or even have noticed her absence? Betty woke up, having her now dry coat wrapped around her as she watched the room. Rosa was still asleep; however, Jane was awake, coming into the room with two cups of tea.  
  
“here you go, luv. I didn’t know how you like your coffee, but tea is what always wakes me up,” she handed a steaming up over to Betty. Betty nodded, she quite liked tea, and was partial to a cup of camomile when she wasn’t feeling too good.  
  
“thank you,” Betty eagerly drank it, not having eaten or drunk anything since the previous night. Jane was delighted by the results, telling Betty that Rosa had always wanted a family, where Betty had to insert the awkward conversation about her and Daniel. she didn’t think they could be them anymore with the loss of Rosa, especially with the loss of Rosa. Betty spent the rest of the night explaining to an equally exhausted Jane why she couldn’t be with Daniel. she didn’t think they would ever find Rosa, but with the habit for lost children showing up on their doorstep it wouldn’t be fair to continue with having a family, especially when Rosa wasn’t part of it.   
  
She told Jane how they celebrated her birthday each year, how Daniel had written a letter to Rosa, and would probably like to see her. Rosa was extremely excited to have Betty as her mom, although they hadn’t told her that Daniel was her father. Rosa and Madison both read MODE (from New York, where Madison’s father worked), both the Wilhelmina version, when Daniel left for France to help Alexis there, as well as the versions from before they were born. So, Daniel didn’t have the best reputation in the eyes of Rosa.   
  
“wow, how can you be awake, you have barely had as much sleep as me?” Betty asked, tucking her coat tighter around her as she curled up on the chair.  
  
“I’m a matron and a nurse in a boarding school, this is actually a lie in,” Jane grinned while Betty nodded, laughing slightly.  
  
“what time is it?” she asked, not having the chance to check since she left her phone at the house.   
  
“erm… about nine in the morning,” Betty went white, she thought it would be earlier than that! She had work to get to, a special babysitting assignment- she wondered if ralph would be kind enough to give her the day off if she said she was in hospital. Rosa was still here, she wasn’t going to let her wake up and not be there for her.  
  
“oh no! I have work, but… I don’t want to go!” Betty said, tears in her eyes.  
  
“I think they will make the excuse to let you have the day off since you are in hospital,” Jane said wisely, but passed over the phone to Betty. “do you live with anyone?”  
  
“erm, my friend, her son, Daniel, his nephew, and… others.” She didn’t want to alert Jane of the presence of Melissa at all.   
  
“oh, I think someone might be worried about you, especially since you didn’t take your phone- that many people, including Rosa’s father… or is it a different Daniel?”  
  
“same Daniel. Jane, I don’t know if I should tell him. Rosa doesn’t think highly of him. she called him stupid because she only knew what he did in MODE,” Betty expressed her fears to Jane, who had become some sort of confidant. She figured she could trust Jane. She had kept Rosa safe all those years, when she was old enough she went to the boarding school Jane worked at so that she could keep an eye on her. She was trustworthy.  
  
“no, Madison has told Rosa a lot about Daniel, although she wouldn’t believe he would actually be her father.”  
  
“I think I will call Christina,” Betty said, looking at the phone in Jane’s hands. she remembered Christina had arrived back with Andrew, having the day off today- but it would probably be easier to call her on the house phone.  
  
Betty wanted Daniel to meet his daughter, but she didn’t want Rosa to think Daniel was still the person Betty knew when he had first met him. she loved Daniel still, and she knew that wouldn’t change- but she could see how much Daniel had grown over the years, having been proud of him either way.   
  
She dialled the home phone number, waiting for the ringing sound when Christina managed to actually detach herself from Andrew long enough to answer it. instead she heard the click of the receiver before she could even hear it ring.  
  
“hello? who is this?” Daniel’s voice was incredibly panicked, and if Betty knew him he would be freaking out completely. More so if he knew she was at a hospital.  
  
“Daniel?”  
  
“Betty! Where the hell are you? you have no idea how worried I have been!” he was angry, shouting down the phone. Maybe Betty could pull the hospital card, especially since she was as nervous and on edge as she was. Rosa was fine with her last night, but she wasn’t now. she might be mad with Betty, it wasn’t like when she grew up she wouldn’t remember any of it- she would remember Betty not always being there. But, as Jane said it wasn’t her fault, or Daniel’s that Rosa got taken away, although Betty was glad a year of her life was spent with a loving family.  
  
“erm… I’m at wellington hospital, you know by the-,” she heard the dial tone of the phone before she even finished the sentence, Betty guessed Daniel had gotten annoyed so he had hung up. She looked at Jane sadly, “he hung up on me,” Betty looked at her hands sadly.  
  
“he is probably on his way over right now,” Jane assured her, patting her hands. Jane reminded Betty a little of her own mom. She was kind, but firm and didn’t stop trying to help others. It was just a miracle that Jane had investigated it. she knew who Betty was, and by Betty explaining her life at MODE to Madison and Rosa on the pavement was able to determine that Betty might be Rosa’s mother. Thank god for Jane.  
  
Betty nodded, moving her hand to rest beside Rosa’s on the blanket. She looked up at Rosa, with her little red blanket, her face looking so much like Betty’s in sleep. Rosa shifted, as soon as she sensed the slight weight on the blanket, before raising her head. She blinked, unable to see Betty properly without her glasses.  
  
“Betty?” she asked.  
  
“hello,” Betty replied softly “how can you see me without your glasses?” Betty asked, while Rosa held onto her hand to try and sit up, looking in worry at her arm.  
  
“my arm feels weird,” she said worriedly, prodding the red cast.  
  
“don’t prod it, now.” Jane moved her little fingers away from her broken arm. Rosa smiled weakly at her, then turned to Betty.  
  
“are you still my mummy?” she asked, the fear in her little voice broke Betty’s heart.  
  
“yes, I am.” Betty smiled, while Rosa too beamed at her.  
  
“I thought you wouldn’t be any more. I thought it was a dream,” she sighed, clutching Betty’s hand for comfort, Betty grinned at her little girl.  
  
“I’m real, but I thought that too. It was the best dream ever, because I found you,” betty grinned, although somewhat nervously. Rosa tried to squeeze Betty’s hand, which led to Betty chuckling at how small she was.  
  
“I thought that too,”  
  
Betty’s thoughts returned to Daniel, seeing the hope in Rosa’s blue eyes, although he had hung up on her, Jane was sure he would be coming to get her, but Betty should probably go and wait for him to arrive, so he didn’t give himself a heart attack wondering what had happened to her. Betty knew without a doubt that Daniel had overreacted. he did it quite frequently, especially when it came to her and her safety. Even before Rosa was born.  
  
But, she was going to have to tell him why she was here, and somehow convince Daniel not tell Melissa. What if he brought Melissa? Betty could just fake some kind of illness, she wasn’t feeling too good actually- although that was probably a side effect of sitting outside on the wet ground. She had faked seizures for Daniel before, so to do this for Rosa wouldn’t be that bad.   
  
There was just one problem, she didn’t want to leave Rosa. Even if she was in Jane’s capable hands, and she already had all their contact details (although Jane did warn her that she was going to perform a background check as well as one for a criminal record to make sure Betty was safe to be around Rosa) and Jane promised her that they wouldn’t go anywhere while Betty was out of the room. but Betty was terrified of it not being real, instead it being a mirage or something. She had pinched herself multiple times to try and get herself to wake up if it wasn’t real.  
  


“go, Betty. He will be wondering where you are,” Jane said, Betty nodded, leaving her coat on the chair and stepping out of the room. she hoped Daniel had taken a cab so that he would be here quickly so she didn’t have to wait outside in the cold for him to turn up. 

  
She got to the main entrance, bumping into a frantic man as she passed through the lobby. On a second glance, that frantic man was Daniel. she tugged on his coat sleeve.  
  
“Daniel!” she said, jolting him out of whatever terrified state he was in to stare at her.   
  
“Betty! Oh my god! Are you okay? What happened?” he said, cupping her face in his cold hands, before running his hands all over her, clearly trying to assess what was wrong. She stopped him, while his hands were resting on her ass.  
  
“Daniel… hands!” she whispered to him, while he moved away as if he was burnt.  
  
“sorry. Erm, why are you here? You look okay, and you are meeting me in the lobby- did they discharge you?”  
  
“no- Daniel!” she slapped his hands away when he reached to make sure she was okay again “it wasn’t me- I am not the reason why I am here okay, I just- I think you need to come with me,” Betty gripped his hand, holding onto it tight, before she dragged him through the hallways.  
She knew that Daniel must be pretty confused, not knowing what they were doing but he didn’t say anything, instead diligently followed Betty, gripping her own tiny hand in his. Betty eventually got to the desk for the small hallway to Rosa’s room. Betty glanced through the doors, no one could just walk in and out.  
  
She wanted Daniel to see Rosa first-hand, have the thrill and surprise of seeing his daughter, but she had to tell the on-duty nurse- who was different than the one when she had come into the ward why she wanted to see Rosa. But she was excited too. She was able to say Rosa was officially his daughter, and although she had Walter as her boyfriend Rosa couldn’t have been his child unless she was born a couple of months late.  
  
“erm, Betty Suarez to see Rosa Suarez,” Betty whispered to the nurse, who nodded, as Betty dragged Daniel through. Maybe the news of a sudden reunion had spread which meant Betty was allowed to see Rosa, if not she had the relevant information in her pants pocket.   
She pulled Daniel through more sterilized hallways, stopping finally out of Rosa’s room, which she had been moved to late the previous night. Betty couldn’t move any further without telling Daniel, she knew Jane was expecting Daniel to be coming up here but Betty wanted to brief him first.  
  
“so, Daniel. you are probably wondering why I am here?” she asked, looking into his face. what Betty hadn’t realised is how angry Daniel was. She had just dragged him through a hospital with no word of an explanation, while he had been staying up all night frantic for the reason that Betty hadn’t returned home.  
  
She looked up at him, his jaw clenched and his eyes dark. She bit her lip, she didn’t want Daniel to be mad at her, although she could see why he would be. Knowing Daniel, he had probably panicked, although in her sleep deprived mind, partially fuelled from jealousy over Melissa she thought Daniel wouldn’t have cared.  
  
“you could say that,” his tone was dark, dangerous. “you ran off, I get that you were angry with me- but Betty you disappear all night, I didn’t sleep because I stayed awake waiting for you to come home. Then you ring me, as if everything is okay, only to tell me you are in hospital- but not actually in hospital, instead at hospital where you drag me through corridors, whispering to nurses-,” Daniel was cut off by Betty. But not in the way he expected.    
  
She understood that he had the right to be mad at her, no matter how fuelled by fear it was- but this was one of the happiest days of her life, and she wasn’t going to let Daniel be grumpy. So, she did something she knew would make Daniel less grumpy. She kissed him. it was only supposed to be short and sweet, but it let the dam of all her emotions she had stored over the last twelve hours loose and poured them into the kiss.   
  
They parted breathless, where they were at a point where Daniel’s hands were in her hair and on her ass consecutively, while she was gripping a hold of his shoulders for dear life. It felt right, they were going to see their daughter as well, so it could only get better. Daniel looked at Betty who was still clutching a hold of him, not having yet come to her senses. However, Daniel had slightly, moving his hands away from… other areas of betty to rest on her waist.  
  
She eventually stopped breathing against his chest, still in the daze from their kiss and looked up at him, a new determination in her eyes.  
“why did you kiss me?” Daniel questioned.  
  
“to shut you up. I get it, you are mad at me, but I need to show you something. This is why I haven’t been back all night, and I am so sorry Daniel- but you are the first to know,”  
  
“first to know what? You are scaring me Betty. I also need to show you something,” he brought her phone out of his pocket, but she pushed it away.  
  
“show me later, right now, this is important,” Betty mumbled, smiling brightly at Daniel. Daniel was confused by her erratic behaviour, however she seemed so happy now- especially after shutting him up with a kiss that he would gladly talk until his voice ran out if it meant Betty would kiss him again. he knew it should feel wrong, seeing as Melissa was still in my life, but she was keeping secrets, very big secrets. Like his late wife being alive. Heck, even molly having an identical twin he would like to know about, so either way Melissa was confusing him. all he knew right that second was that being with Betty felt right.  
  
She stepped inside the room, ushering him in as well. inside was a middle-aged woman, talking to a little girl on the bed. a little girl that had stunning blue eyes as she stared at him. she suddenly turned to Betty, her face breaking into a wide grin, as did Betty’s.  
  
“mummy! You came back!” she said, as he watched in what appeared to be slow motion. Betty reached over to gingerly hug the little girl. The little girl who was his daughter.  
  
Everything made sense all of a sudden.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty.

Daniel watched as Betty took a seat beside this little girl’s bed. the little girl who looked like Betty in all of the baby pictures of Betty Daniel has seen. It was Rosa.  
  
However, there was some tiny terrified bit of him that said that it wasn’t real. All of this was some made up fantasy Betty had created, even if he was presented by solid evidence it would seem too good to be true, apart from the little girl’s broken arm.  
  
Betty eventually stopped whispering to her as Daniel stood in front of them, not saying anything to them but looking totally stunned at the whole situation. The little girl turned to him, blinking slightly, as if she couldn’t see him very well.  
  
“are you my dad? I didn’t think you would be because Maddie said you were a-,” Rosa was about to say something not very complimentary, but Jane patted Rosa’s hand before she had a chance of saying something too damning.  
  
“they have read a lot of MODE, back when you aren’t the respectable gentleman you are now,” the middle-aged lady said nodding at Daniel. Daniel looked at Betty, everyone seemed to certain that this was his daughter, but he was so terrified it was all fantasy. However, Betty had already thought Daniel may be sceptical by Rosa’s sudden appearance, so she pulled the evidence of the DNA test out of her pants pocket.

  
“here,” she said softly, passing it to Daniel. he scanned the page, it was definite. Betty was her mother. He was her father. The daughter they had wanted to see for years was sitting here talking animatedly to Betty, who was grinning wider than he had ever seen her.

 

“wow,” was all Daniel could say. Rosa smiled at him, even though she seemed a little nervous. Daniel just wished she hadn’t read all of those stories about his man whore ways before they were reunited. Still he would just have to try. He was meeting with his little girl the first time in seven years, and he was thrilled.

 

  
Betty and Daniel walked out of the hospital, because they were the parents they could stay as long as they liked (it didn’t really come into much use that he was a Meade over in London, Meade publications wasn’t as infamous over this side of the pond) and had done all day. Daniel called Christina to give her a brief on what was going on, but he saved the surprise of Rosa. They would tell her when they got back, if Betty thought it would be a good idea. Daniel didn’t want to tell Melissa, he didn’t want to let anyone who could be possibly dangerous near his daughter. And Connor Owens was dangerous.  
  
Melissa knew what Connor had done to Meade publications, and Connor might have only gotten out of prison in the last couple of years, but it still didn’t make him reformed totally. Daniel, only having met Rosa for the second-time hours ago, knew he would do whatever it took to protect her. she had already been taken from them once, it wasn’t going to happen again on his watch.  
  
Betty was exhausted, since she too had been awake all night, then carefully watching the interactions of Daniel and Rosa thought the day. Daniel was quick to assure his daughter he wasn’t the same man that the press made him out to be, instead he was a loving man. Betty ended up agreeing with him because he kept nudging her. he was just worried that Rosa wouldn’t like him, because she was already calling Betty mom. It seemed way too soon, but Rosa’s adoptive parents had died when she was only one. She hadn’t known a mother figure in her short little life, not one she could remember anyway.  
  
She had already formed a close bond with Betty, they looked similar, and liked the same sort of things, but Daniel could clearly see she was his daughter. The way she pouted when Jane said it was time for her to go home to the boarding school, the way her face lit up when Betty said she promised she would come and visit her, Daniel couldn’t help but grin just thinking about it.  
  
They walked home in a comfortable silence, however Daniel was bubbling to show Betty what Alexis had sent her, not to mention he wanted to discuss the very hot kiss she gave him before they saw Rosa. He didn’t believe it was just to shut him up, he knew her better than that. Although he knew Betty could be insanely passionate when she wanted to, she wouldn’t use it to try and split him and Melissa up.  
  
But, she did sleep with him when he was dating molly, although he was partially to blame because he was pulling some of the moves out on her if he was honest. He would never stop loving Betty and he meant it. while he may have fallen for many a woman’s charms he genuinely believed Betty was his first love, and nothing could change that.  
  
He knew he would have to give Betty her phone back eventually, maybe not in front of Melissa. They were about to arrive at their road when Daniel pulled Betty back from turning the corner, luckily, they weren’t on their road before Melissa could look out of the window and see Daniel talking to Betty, about her.  
  
“erm, Betty.” He held onto her shoulder, before reaching into her jacket pocket and pulling out her phone.  
  
“Daniel! you had this all day! I would have sent a picture to Christina of me and Rosa! Daniel!” she protested, understandably cross with him,  
  
“I know, I am sorry. But I wanted to talk to you, I saw the text from Alexis,” Betty blanked for a minute, then nodded.  
  
“what did it say?” she asked, while a thought occurred to Daniel. he had thought throughout the whole day that Betty knew some of what was going on, more than him anyway. But, apparently not.  
  
“oh crap,” he hastily took her phone off of her, about to delete the picture, not wanting her to be dragged into this whole mess, and slow down the adoption process that he was considering. Well, he had been considering. He didn’t know whether or not he wanted to go through the whole adoption process with Melissa, although it would be easier as a couple to adopt Rosa, even if she was biologically Betty’s daughter, she was his too.  
  
“Daniel, what are you doing? Give me my phone back!” she shouted, grabbing her phone back from him. Daniel held it out of her reach. He didn’t want her to see this and jump to more conclusions than he had about Melissa. He was sure it would have a logical explanation, that woman might not even be molly, she might just look like her. although that didn’t explain why the woman was holding onto Connor’s hand, he had married Wilhelmina two years ago, but it didn’t mean Betty had to see it.  
  
“it is okay, you don’t need to see it,” he held it above her reach although she had backed him against a wall and was straining to reach.  
  
“Daniel, give it back! You are acting like a five-year-old!” she said, still reaching for the phone. They were in closer proximity now, her body flush against his. This distracted Daniel, having a very beautiful woman who had kissed him only hours earlier with her body pressed against his, enough to slacken his grip on the phone so she could grab it.  
  
“Betty, don’t!” he said, as soon as he regained his senses, as he moved over to stop Betty from looking at the text.  
  
“Daniel, stop whining. I spoke to Alexis, I think I know what this is about?” she snapped, gently pushing him away when he reached for the phone again. he felt some relief, knowing Betty might not be as shocked, she might know it isn’t molly- although it did leave plenty more questions erupting in Daniel’s mind. obviously, the subject of the image was Melissa, she was the most noticeable. It wasn’t a secret that Betty and Melissa weren’t the biggest fans of each other, but why was Betty investigating her? with his own sister, nevertheless?  
  
He watched as Betty opened the text, her eyes going wide as she saw the image, without even zooming in she reacted.  
  
“molly? Connor? Wait, I think I am hallucinating?!” she looked at the phone, and back at Daniel, regretting blurting out molly’s name. she knew Daniel was still sensitive about the issue of his wife dying, but to see either molly or her clone was a bit startling. “wait, when was this? I didn’t know Melissa knew molly when she was alive,” she glanced up at Daniel “I am sorry Daniel,”  
  
“Betty, that wasn’t when I thought molly was alive. It was last year,”  
  
“what? Last year? How is that possible?” she asked him, stepping towards Daniel again, and again unintentionally backing him against the wall.  
  
“I don’t know. I just thought maybe it wasn’t. I need to talk to Melissa about this, because she knew about molly, but never said anything about being friends with her or even knowing who she was. She is French, she grew up in France!”  
  
“I thought she moved to America when she was little, she doesn’t have a French accent. And she told me so.”  
  
“what?” Daniel asked, a confused and somewhat incredulous look on his face, he turned towards Betty. “she told me she was born in France, grew up there with her parents, and doesn’t have a French accent because of all the modelling,” he argued. Betty sighed, there were more things that just didn’t add up about Melissa.  
  
“anyway,” she waved her hand over her phone to get back to the point. “we need to show Melissa the picture to ask her, otherwise she will never believe us- especially me… in case you haven’t noticed she doesn’t like me.” Betty shoved her phone into her pocket, Daniel sighed, knowing Betty was right. But what Betty didn’t notice is that the pocket of her coat had a hole in it, from where she had sat on the ground with Rosa- and her phone fell out- smashing on the ground.  
  
Daniel heard the sound, spinning around to look at the cracked phone. With their only evidence.  
  
“crap! Betty, your phone!” he picked it up, handing it to a frantic Betty while she desperately tried to turn it on.  
  
“oh no! Daniel, that is my only evidence, and that is the number I gave to Jane,” she looked as if she was about to cry.  
  
“Betty, calm down. I gave them my number, and do you have all their contact details written down?”  
  
“yes,” she breathed out, looking at her lifeless phone in her hand. “but, that is what we had to question Melissa,” she sighed again, moving away from the wall.  
  
“we could just ask her,”  
  
“don’t you know the first thing about interrogation? You need evidence, Daniel.” he looked at Betty with a somewhat amused look on his face.  
“Betty… I know, but unless your phone magically starts to work…”  
  
“why don’t you call Alexis? you can tell her you saw the picture, and get her to send another one,”  
  
“are you serious,” Daniel laughed somewhat sarcastically “if Melissa even saw that she would have a fit, it would be worse than what Sofia did to me,” Daniel raised his eyebrows to emphasise his point. Betty understood, no matter how much Daniel was exaggerating. She didn’t want to risk Rosa’s future.  
  
“huh! I know, I will get DJ to ask Alexis for the picture, I picked up to Alexis on his phone,” she smiled at Daniel, running down the road and towards the house before he could ask her the numerous questions that had been brewing in his mind.  he ran after her, since in all the craziness he had forgotten to tell Betty that Christina was moving out, she was getting married- and he and Melissa were moving in. Melissa had made it official with Christina, updating him with constant text messages throughout the day. All she needed him to do was sign.  
  
But he wasn’t going to until he got some answers, and made sure Betty had a place to live. He would buy her a house if she wanted, nothing was too good for Betty in his book. she knocked on the front door, having forgotten her keys as Christina answered.  
  
“there is our own missing persons case! You know this wanker called the police?” she said, engulfing Betty in a hug and pointing at Daniel with mirth in her eyes.  
  
“did you?” Betty seemed equally as incredulous, however she was grinning. Daniel could understand her happiness, he felt his face was about to split open from smiling so much. They walked inside, Daniel missing the sounds of Betty’s deafening screaming when she was excited,  
presumably at the sight of Christina’s engagement ring. Neither DJ or Melissa was in, Daniel had a suspicion that DJ was visiting his girlfriend and Melissa was out probably conducting more shady deals with dead people. Suddenly he heard another shriek from Betty, although this one sounded angrier. A minute later she ran into the living room where Daniel was sitting, typing on his laptop.  
  
“Daniel! what the hell? Melissa wants to live here!” she yelled at him, her voice full of passion- but not the good kind that had been in the kiss that they had shared earlier. The one that he couldn’t get out of his mind.  
  
“I... she didn’t really discuss it with me, and I have to sign it first,” Daniel put his laptop aside, standing up so he didn’t feel so intimidated by Betty who looked very angry.  
  
“well, Christina isn’t sure- and you should have spoken to me! I helped buy this house. I spent all of my savings, and I doubt Melissa will want me here,”  
  
“Betty, it isn’t her decision, I have a say in it too. Just because Christina is moving out doesn’t mean you won’t be the owner still. You need a place to live, and we are not going to kick you out of your own home, especially not if…”  
  
“I don’t want her anywhere near Melissa,”  
  
“Betty, Melissa didn’t do anything- and the picture could have been from a while ago,”  
  
“you said it was from last year,” she didn’t look impressed, tilting her head to try and tell if he was lying.  
  
“well, I might have been wrong- I will check the time stamp when I get it off DJ, okay?” he argued, although by then they may have enough evidence to question Melissa.  
  
“well my child is not going anywhere near her until I talk to Alexis.” Betty said, only to have Christina burst into the room, her eyebrows raised.  
  
“Betty, care to enlighten me? there was something important you were going to tell me before you started on Danny boy.” She asked, while Daniel sighed, putting his head in his hands. they didn’t want to share the news about Rosa to too many people, in case someone told Melissa, spurring on the adoption process. Not that he didn’t want Rosa to be adopted, but he didn’t want Melissa near her either until they had sorted this whole mess out.  
  
But, if Betty hadn’t been able to contact Alexis or revive her phone to retrieve the image he was going to call Alexis himself. He wasn’t going to trust his daughter with someone so shady, even if he had known Melissa for two years his family alone proved that you could think you have known people much longer and not actually have known them at all.  
  
“we… you need to keep this quiet!” she pulled a surprised Christina over to the couch, she sat next to Betty as Betty breathed in slowly. She was about to announce the news that she had been waiting to say for years. “we found Rosa, Christina, we found my baby!” Betty cried, tears already running down her face with the pure thrill of it.  
  
“what? Where?”  
  
“she broke her arm yesterday, I went to help her. long story short I did a DNA test and it turns out she is my daughter! How amazing is that?” Betty asked Christina, smiling happily as her friend hugged her.  
  
“wait, I have loads of questions! How did she break her arm?” Christina and Betty chatted for the rest of the evening, Daniel leaning back on the couch next to Betty as she finished telling the tale- smiling at Christina as if all was right in the world.  
  
They were finishing up their conversation, Betty still not explaining about Melissa, although Daniel knew it was a topic that was fast approaching. He had Betty leaning into his side without realising it, as she spoke to Christina and he typed emails out.  
  
Daniel heard a key in the lock, and the sound of heavy footwear on the hallway, Daniel smiled. It must be DJ, who he needed to talk to about the Melissa issue.  
  
“Christina, you should have seen her! she was so adorable, Daniel- give me your phone, I want to show Christina the pictures of Rosa, her friend taught her to take selfies, it was so funny!” she giggled, sticking her hands into Daniel’s pocket to retrieve his phone. Daniel squirmed uncomfortably, Betty’s hands being too close for comfort, well in the living room anyway.  
  
“whoa, careful, Betty,” but Betty wasn’t listening, she was too busy showing all the pictures she had taken of Rosa. Daniel grinned, he had waited a long time for this sight, the sight of Betty being happy with her little girl back with her mom.  
  
“she is going to get new glasses, Daniel promised he would buy her some, and some new clothes- she wants purple glasses since that is her second favourite colour like her daddy is purple. Also, she said she wants to be a fashion designer like you, Christina! I told her all about you, by the way!” Betty was saying, her mouth moving a thousand miles a minute as she grinned at Christina. Suddenly the footsteps drew closer and Melissa stepped into the room.  
  
Betty fell silent, looking up at Melissa who had obviously heard all about Rosa… Melissa who was talking to Connor and the supposedly dead molly. Melissa who was one step closer to her child.  
  
“you met Rosa?” she seemed excited walking into the room and positioning herself between Christina and Betty, immediately taking the phone from Betty’s hands. “wow, so did you tell her about her new mom?” she asked.  
  
Betty’s insides froze, and she felt she was going to be sick. Betty had a funny feeling Melissa wasn’t talking about Rosa being reunited with her… oh no.  
  
“well, I was there… so,”

  
“no, I didn’t mean you, I meant me… after all I am marrying Daniel, and we are buying the house. It is official, Daniel since you already agreed, I just forged your signature,”  
  
“what, Melissa? That is illegal, I wanted to talk to you about it- I need to make sure Betty has somewhere to live, since she is part owner,”  
  
“no, she isn’t. we own it. it was put in Christina’s name, since she was the one who contributed most of the funds, you should have asked if you wanted it in Betty’s name too,” Melissa shrugged, scrolling through the pictures with a malicious smile on her face.  
  
This was it. Melissa appeared to have won. And she was one step closer to her baby girl.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!

Betty looked down at the book in front of her face, not being able to concentrate on a single word on that page. She wasn’t trying to, she was just feeling the desolate loss of hope she last experienced when Rosa was taken away. But this was something else, she knew she didn’t want her baby to be stolen away from her again, especially by Melissa- however she would still be with her father, and it wouldn’t be like Betty was banned from ever seeing her (although she was sure she would be if Melissa had her way).   
  
She felt hopeless, at least Wilhelmina was upfront about her intentions, she didn’t even attempt to hide them, while Melissa did it simply because she was jealous… or that is what she led everyone to believe. There seemed to be layers upon layers of lies. The lies that no one believed: that she liked Betty and wasn’t jealous of her and Daniel’s relationship. Then there were the lies that no one even knew about, the meeting between molly and Connor and Melissa.  
  
One of those people was supposed to be married to the world-famous MODE editor, and the other one was supposed to be… well, dead? Betty believed Daniel that it was a year ago, she had heard all about the distinctive going grey for a charity thing Melissa did… but Daniel still seemed uncertain.  
  
Melissa had asked to meet Rosa, while Betty had said something quietly that would have made over my dead body seem polite. She couldn’t take her child away from her, that wasn’t fair. But Betty knew who she had on her side. apparently, Jane had seen some woman walk into the building asking about Rosa’s trust fund, Betty would be willing to bet quite a lot of money that it was Melissa, her assistant or someone who she had hired. Betty hadn’t told Rosa about her and Daniel’s relationship but she did manage to spill the whole story of the dodgy new fiancée of Daniel’s. she had Jane on her side. at least Melissa didn’t know who that was, but Betty had to go into work the next day if she was ever going to get that promotion.   
  
It almost seemed irrelevant, since all she could think about was her baby girl and how all she had hoped for, for seven years could be ripped from underneath her in a matter of moments. She had worked hard her whole career to get to a spot where she wasn’t necessarily going forward. She had to do a baby-sitting job to advance, is that had what it had come to?   
  
She always imagined her life of working until she met someone, having the perfect fairy-tale romance before she completely settled down, and that wasn’t when she was nine, she had imagined she would at least be able to find love quite easily, but it didn’t appear that way. She hadn’t had a lot of boyfriends, but all her relationships seemed to be pretty sturdy, however, some people where only interested in her for the sake of her career, while others panicked and bailed when she told them about Rosa.   
  
Betty curled up on the couch, Christina was still living in the house until she officially moved… but Betty’s current occupancy was hanging in the balance at the moment as well. she did save, but not enough to even rent a tiny place. This was London, it was expensive. Her new job payed even less than the one as EIC, which payed even less than the one at MODE. Which meant she barely had enough savings to cover the weekly shop. She had taken a risk, even coming to London, which meant she couldn’t just go to her family if she was struggling.   
  
She heard the door creak, half expecting Melissa to walk in and rob her, she seemed to be taking everything else away from her at the moment. Instead, Daniel walked in, looking forlorn.  
  
“hey, couldn’t sleep?” he asked, moving aside her feet and sitting on the couch with her.   
  
He replaced her feet over his lap, while Betty sighed out a response “no,”  
  
“what are you thinking about?”  
  
“you know what!” her voice was harsh, cold. Daniel sighed, he wasn’t expecting anything else from Betty as a response. It had really hurt him too, he didn’t want Melissa to buy this house, not yet anyway. He knew Betty couldn’t afford somewhere else to live on just what she had, and although he and Christina would gladly buy her a place, Betty wasn’t the sort to go for ‘charity’ even if it would help. Instead that point had just made him have a massive argument with Melissa, to which she stormed out of the house. But he had also realised that he needed to get rid of Melissa as soon as possible, not so easy when she was trying to buy a house in London in your name.  
  
“Betty, I am sorry. I didn’t ask for any of it. I am not letting her near Rosa without an explanation, okay?” he looked at Betty. She stubbornly looked at her knees and not back at him until he put his hand under her chin. “you want to know the other thing I am thinking about?”  
  
“Rosa?” her voice changed, becoming a lot softer.   
  
“about this,” Daniel answered, leaning over Betty’s folded up legs. He was millimetres away from her face, before he moved gently in. Betty tried to pretend she didn’t know what was going on, but that was a lie. She knew exactly what was happening. And she didn’t feel like stopping it.   
The kiss they shared earlier, it felt so right. It felt as if she was on top of the world, back at home, just… safe, but exhilarated. She missed kissing Daniel, she missed it because she felt complete. They had found Rosa, and she was already calling her mom. Now Daniel was kissing her as if he would never let go.   
  
She knew it was wrong, because of all the stuff with Melissa, the lies, the deceit (although that had been mainly perpetrated by the aforementioned Melissa) but she couldn’t stop. Soon kissing was ending up where it normally ended up, for them anyway. In bed, well… the couch.   
  
Daniel carefully peeled off her dressing gown as he moved over her, the heat between them igniting the fire in Betty that had long since died. Daniel kept on kissing her, reminding her of his many talents, which mainly revolved around his tongue as he gently lapped at her collar bone causing her to gasp out loud. She reached around his back, holding on to stifle the noises she was making as he had stripped her naked, his hands working their way into her pyjama bottoms, and making her shudder.

Betty found herself wanting more of Daniel to take her mind off everything again, that today had simultaneously been one of the worst and one of the best days of her life. They joined eventually and soon nothing else mattered to Betty. Just her and Daniel in the moment, wrapped partially in the blanket as they made love.    
    

  
Betty woke to the smell of bacon, fully dressed and covered by the quilt. She woke to the muted sound of children’s television coming from the screen and the sighs of the old house settling. She looked down at her outfit, the pyjamas she had worn the previous night before she couldn’t sleep.  
  
It must have been a dream. She was more saddened by that then the threat of homelessness, because it meant it wasn’t real… nothing was real. Only her love and the pointless pining for Daniel.  
  
She and Daniel were different together, they weren’t like her and anyone else. It was like Daniel could read her mind for one thing, one of their shared bonds that dated back to before the first time they made love. That was different, with everyone else she overthought it, acted as if she had all the time in the world and there was too much room to make mistakes.  
  
But with Daniel, it was as if every second was their last. They had first been together as an act of passion, of reassurance. But as Daniel told her later it was to try and fight his feelings for her, the old technique of fighting fire with fire. Although Betty didn’t think that could be compared in this case. She hadn’t thought too much about it, since it was as if they existed in a world without Melissa and the mess that surrounded them.  
She stepped out of the comforter that she had tightly wound herself in, reaching out to ruffle Williams hair as he was too engrossed in the cartoon to notice she was awake. Betty found Daniel in the kitchen, prodding bacon on the stove, he looked up and grinned when she entered the room.   
  
“hey, are you okay?” he slid the bacon onto a small plate, then placing some bread into the greasy pan.  
  
“yeah…” Betty said shakily. She didn’t know whether or not Daniel could tell it had been a dream, since he was staring at her pretty intently, his deep cerulean gaze prompting more information out of her. “I had a pretty weird dream last night,” was what his eyes alone got her to say.  
  
“oh, yeah? Was it about me?” he dropped his voice to a whisper, leaving the bread to sizzle in the pan as he stepped into Betty’s personal space “because that wasn’t a dream,”  
  
“why did you get me dressed? Why did you leave me to think I imagined it?” she asked rearing away from him.   
  
“Betty, as much as I would kill to see your naked body as the first thing I wake up to… unfortunately you have a seventeen-year-old and a six-year-old boy living here too, and that isn’t what I want them to see… also Melissa might have some choice things to say about us sleeping naked on the couch.”  
  
“oh… thanks Daniel,” she reddened slightly.   
  
“it is okay… so are you going to see Rosa today?” Betty looked thoughtful for a moment before speaking.  
  
“I don’t know. I have to go into work because I missed yesterday and that was my chance to get extra experience for a promotion, but it sort-of feels as if it doesn’t matter anymore,” she sighed. Daniel didn’t look Betty in the eyes, although it felt that way too for him, he knew Betty needed to focus on something else apart from Rosa.  
  
“why don’t we go after work, or since it is still half term for Rosa we could meet up with her and Jane,” Betty looked slightly nervous shifting in her seat. “Betty, what is wrong? We’re her parents, we are allowed to see her.” Daniel raised his eyebrows.   
  
“I know, I am just so worried about the Melissa thing. We saw her talking to your late wife! If that doesn’t read suspicious…!”   
  
“Betty, I called Alexis on my phone, I know she is in New York, which is odd since DJ is here. But, I need to speak to DJ to find out what is going on,”  
  
Betty sighed, Daniel knew where Alexis was- but he didn’t know the half of it. he could compromise or complete this investigation (and it did feel a bit like Betty was solving a crime case). He was too close to Melissa, and actually liked her. so, he might actually believe her lies. But, then again, he knew about Alexis’s whereabouts, so he was one step closer to finding out why DJ was really in London.  
  
“how did you know?”   
  
“she spoke to my mom, who I know is in New York, since I told her about Rosa-,” suddenly he was cut off by a squeak from Betty, who accidentally flipped her chair over, snatching Daniel’s phone from him again. “whoa, Betty what was that all about?” he asked before Betty dialled up a number on the screen. She needed to call her family, who she hadn’t spoken to in weeks. Daniel had a feeling he was going to need earplugs sometime in his near future.  
  
Betty stood aside from Daniel, working up the courage to speak to her sister again. she completely forgot to call with the craziness of trying to keep it from Melissa, and then Melissa finding out… and then that thing with Daniel. she knew it would be too early to call, but she wanted to. she needed to speak to someone, and Hilda or Justin would be the most likely to answer the phone.  
  
“hello?” came the sleep addled reply of Hilda.   
  
“Hilda?”  
  
“Betty? What are you doing calling at this time at night? and for the first time in months!” to her dismay Hilda sounded quite annoyed, but she always did when she had just woken up.  
  
“sorry, I just want to tell you some really good news!” Betty beamed excitedly.  
  
“what? Did Daniel finally break up with that bitch Melissa?” Hilda asked, at the unfortunate moment Betty chose to put the phone on loudspeaker. Daniel raised his eyebrows at Betty who shushed him.  
  
“no, even better than that! I found Rosa!”  
  
“what? Your daughter Rosa?”  
  
“no Hilda-,” Betty said sarcastically, however Daniel spoke up before she said something she would regret.  
  
“yes, Hilda. Our daughter, we did a DNA test and we found her,” he filled in.   
  
“well, what the hell happened?” she asked, sounding a lot more awake. For the third time in twenty-four hours they recounted the tale of how they came to be reunited with Rosa. By the end of it both Hilda and Betty were in tears.  
  
“wow, chica. That is so great, I don’t suppose you want to come and see your niece anytime soon?” she asked. After the miscarriage, Hilda had she had married bobby, only to provide Justin with a baby sister the next year. Her niece was now three years old and looked a lot like bobby’s sister.   
  
“I would love to Hilda, you know that. But I don’t have enough money to even go on a weekend break- but I want Rosa to see her family. How is Papi?” Betty asked, only to be hit with a wall of silence from the other end of the line. She hadn’t spoken to anyone in her family in a while, however she had been keeping up with Justin over twitter and other social networks, since he was now twenty and already royalty in the fashion world, working at MODE with marc and alongside Wilhelmina. “Hilda?”  
  
“erm… he isn’t doing too good Betty,”  
  
“what? What is wrong?”  
  
“he had another heart attack,” Hilda said, her voice breaking. Betty felt her heart plummet. She knew that having multiple heart attacks was expected, but it got more dangerous each time.  
  
“when?” Daniel had walked over to her pulling her up and cradling Betty against his chest. The mood had gone from happy, elated, hopeful, to sombre and miserable.  
  
“a couple of weeks ago, I am still staying at the hospital with him. that is why I sounded so annoyed when I woke up, I had only just fallen asleep,” Betty remained silent, not speaking at all. She didn’t know why Hilda hadn’t even told her if it happened a couple of weeks before. why did Hilda not tell her? they both knew how dangerous multiple heart attacks were.  
  
“Hilda, why didn’t you tell me?”  
  
“I tried to. I left a message with someone who was staying here- as well as leaving a message with your assistant,”  
“why didn’t you call me on my mobile?” but even as Betty asked she knew the answer to that, she knew that had happened. She sent her sister to voicemail, not being ready to talk with the drama with Melissa.   
  
“you sent me to voicemail, and I don’t know who answered on the landline but they sounded like a six-year-old, really sweet.”  
  
“was it a girl?” Betty asked, William might not understand if Hilda had told him that, but her money wasn’t on William. It was on Melissa using her telephone voice.  
  
“yeah.”  
  
“Melissa,” Daniel growled out, staring at his hands. there was something going on, and the root of their problems wasn’t here.  
  
“that is her, I have never spoken to her. but it could explain why she didn’t tell you,”  
  
“when did you call?”  
  
“about sometime last week, I think Wednesday or something.” Hilda responded.  
  
Daniel spoke before Betty had a chance to muse over it “that is when Melissa said we should stay in London… for Rosa.”  
  
“I need to get to New York,” Betty said, before hanging up abruptly on Hilda. Daniel looked at Betty in confusion.  
  
“er, what?” he said, looking still bemused.  
  
“Daniel, my father had another heart attack, he could be dying and I haven’t seen him in a year. Whatever is going on with Melissa may be in New York, as Connor is there. I want Rosa to meet her family,”  
  
“Betty…” his voice was low, a warning. Betty was fed up with living her life because she thought it would make other’s happy. She had done well enough in London, but then she didn’t go back home because she didn’t want to crawl back with her tail in between her legs, defeated. Daniel had convinced her it wouldn’t be like that, and for a few moments her old anxieties had told her it would be running home, proving everyone who ever doubted her right. But it wasn’t.   
  
She wasn’t happy in London, she had Christina- who was wonderful, but it didn’t stop her from missing her family, who had all moved on, or Amanda and marc (she didn’t even know what marc was up to these days since Daniel didn’t seem to be as involved in keeping up with marc- probably because marc wasn’t sleeping with his brother, only in marc’s dreams, perhaps?) she hated her job, and the only plus side was that she was temporarily closer to Daniel when he lived in France. It was time to stop being stubborn and go home.   
  
“what? My father may be dying Daniel, I want to be there,”  
  
“you do realise you have a child? And Melissa isn’t going to just up sticks since she has already decided on living here,”  
  
“I am not letting Melissa anywhere near Rosa, trust me,”  
  
“Betty…” Daniel understood that, especially with Melissa’s behaviour recently, he wasn’t inclined to let the woman near his recently rediscovered child either. However, he doubted Melissa would be particularly receptive to him just upping and leaving to New York with Betty and Rosa in tow. They had just bought a house, using his funds- in Melissa’s name.   
  
Strangely all the things that should have made Daniel realise that Betty being spontaneous wasn’t the best idea, made him want to do it even more.   
  
“what about your job?” Daniel finished, a minute of silence hanging in the air as he thought of all the things that could possibly go wrong.  
  
“I think I want to quit,” with those six words Daniel knew that of all the irresponsible things Betty had done in her life, no matter that he could count them on one hand, this one was far by the best one he could get behind.  
  
“okay, are we going to take Rosa?” they were talking about it as if it was a possibility, one that had been decided in a matter of minutes.  
  
“yes, of course,” she swallowed, looking at him directly “I want her to meet her family, and your mom is in New York. she could meet the grandparents that she was named after,” Betty shrugged and smiled. This plan was officially in action, even if it could break apart many things that had been in the workings for years.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I may have forgotten to post on here the latest chapter, sorry! I am going to try to post chapter 17 as normal tomorrow!  
> Disclaimer: I do not own Ugly Betty.

Daniel didn’t know why he had so readily agreed to this impromptu trip to New York city, although he figured it was something to do with how Betty could ask him to chop off his own arm and he would still do it. only there was now a mini version of Betty who was bouncing around in the aeroplane’s seats, much to the dismay of the flight attendants. Well, the ones who weren’t eyeing him like he was a piece of meat anyway.  
He just knew that he would do anything for Betty and Rosa, even if that included a trip to New York city, which he was funding since Betty had no cash whatsoever, as well as paying for Rosa to come as well. they were leaving Melissa in London; a welcome excuse Daniel had fed her about the change to the deeds of the house.   
  
Only Christina knew what they were really doing. The excuse he told everyone was that they were going to show Melissa who her family was, hopefully spinning the wheels on the adoption process, as well as getting to see Ignacio following his heart attack. That was part of the truth, albeit a tiny fragment of the much larger puzzle piece of their return to New York city.  
  
They hadn’t confronted Melissa in the six weeks it took for them all to prepare for their departure to New York, DJ included. They weren’t going to leave him alone with Melissa for the two weeks they were going to be in New York. even though DJ was doing something on the London side, something Daniel didn’t much about. Betty hadn’t told him, so he was brining DJ along to ‘repair his relationship’ with Alexis. Daniel knew they were fine, he had spotted DJ talking to Alexis on the phone a few times- however he hoped it would uncover some of the truths that Betty had been keeping from him.  
  
The reason why it took six weeks to prepare is because they had to get permission for Rosa to be off of school for an extra week, and although they were her parents, they weren’t her legal guardians as of yet so she had to have someone come with her. which meant Jane had to come too. So here they were, Betty Jane and Rosa, sitting in front of him and DJ, and a very beautiful woman seated by the window.   
  
Rosa stopped her bouncing in her seat, looking out of the window and back to Betty who was sitting next to her.  
  
“mummy, I am scared, I have never been on an aeroplane before,” Betty had had limited contact with Rosa over the few weeks pending to their departure for New York. she had been to see Rosa a few times, after quitting her job before the official paperwork for the promotion went through. She felt strange, empty at quitting what she had worked towards for two years of her life.  
  
Priorities had come into question here, such as her waiting for seven years to see Rosa, to make sure she was safe. Although her career was really important to her, a dream she had been holding ever since she was about Rosa’s age. But to give up her dreams was a small price to pay for keeping Rosa safe. Daniel had only scratched the surface with that picture, the reality went much, much deeper.  
  
Betty held Rosa still, making her sit down in her seat before the flight attendant came along and glared at them again. “yes, you have. You were born in New York, so you went on an aeroplane to get to London,”  
  
“wow, that is so cool! How old was I?”  
  
“a week old,” Rosa looked pensive, stopping rocking about in her seat and looking onto the rain specked tarmac of the airport.  
  
“mummy, why did you give me up?” she asked, twisting the loose curls around her fingers. They had told her that Rosa was only adopted when she was a baby, since you can’t be in boarding school since you were still a baby without it sparking some questions.   
  
“there was a mean woman who took you away,” Rosa was a big believer in fairy tales, so Betty thought while she was still a little girl Betty wouldn’t immerse her into the whole knowledge of Wilhelmina too young, after all that could ruin lives.  
  
“like a witch?” Rosa furrowed her brow and half grinned.  
  
“give or take a letter,” Betty mumbled, seeing the plane slightly shake as it was preparing to take off. Betty felt her skin grow cold, she was scared slightly, which probably explained the queasy feeling.  
  
“okay, so Rosa- do you want to go and see anything while we are in New York?” Jane asked, smiling at Rosa. She had packed all manner of inflight entertainment for Rosa to keep her occupied, and her mind off plummeting into the ocean.   
  
“I want to go and see the statue of liberty, apparently, the torch bit was covered in sheets of real 24karot gold, in 1986,” she repeated.  
  
“right… wow, you are clever, aren’t you Rosa?” Betty asked, gently brushing her hair aside. Rosa leant into her as much as she could with the constraint of the seatbelt.  
  
“where do you want to go mummy?” Rosa asked, wide awake, while Betty felt as if she was already falling asleep.  
  
“hmm. I don’t know, I grew up in New York, so I never thought of all the sights I want to see,” Betty stifled a yawn. She had been up since three in the morning packing for herself. Betty had told Jane to at least get some sleep.   
  
Jane had become her confidant since the discovery of Rosa, she had told her everything. Betty knew she could trust Jane. Jane didn’t have any dealings with people who had robbed entire companies, and people who were supposed to be dead. She looked after Rosa when her adoptive parents died, she kept her safe throughout the entire thing. Jane was the one person she could trust.   
  
Betty hadn’t told Daniel everything that was going on, she didn’t know whether or not Melissa would be able to extract the truth from him. all he knew about was the picture. And that they were going to New York to find out the origin from Alexis, and get a picture that Alexis had refused to send again. while Daniel had sparse contact with anyone about the issue, not even attempting to involve his mother like Betty had done weeks ago, Betty had spoken to everyone, making sure they were all on her side.  
  
There was another big thing she was keeping from Daniel. while Rosa may have been staying at a boarding school, she was actually adopted after the death of her parents… by their best friend. Rosa wasn’t taken in by the boarding school instead of being in a home, or even as an instruction of her trust fund. She had been adopted by Jane, who worked there.   
  
And Jane wasn’t giving her up to Daniel or Melissa. Instead of the adoption case being through the government and child welfare services it was between Betty and Jane. Part of the reason why Jane had become her confidant as she had to asses Betty’s lifestyle in order for the adoption to go through, and if that was going to be in New York… then. Jane was coming with them.   
  
“Rosa, why don’t you settle down. there is a time difference between New York and London, they say to beat it you need to sleep on the plane,” Jane reached across Betty’s seat, tugging on Rosa’s seatbelt as she turned around in her seat.  
  
“I want to talk to daddy.” She turned around in her seat, while Daniel smiled at Rosa, then pointed at the lady sitting on the window side, right behind Rosa’s seat, looking very angry.  
  
“shh, Rosa. Wait for the plane to take off, and you will see all the people looking like ants,” Betty whispered in Rosa’s ear, as Rosa pressed her head against Betty’s shoulder.  
  
Even with all of the secret keeping they had been doing throughout the ongoing investigation, Betty had never experienced the pure joy of being with Rosa, with all the things she was inquisitive about, and her seemingly endless knowledge of facts. She loved Rosa already, the same love she had experienced from the moment Rosa was born.  
  
But, she had a mission to complete on her trip to New York.  
  
She needed to find Alexis, get the picture, show Daniel so he could question Melissa. Betty regretted keeping Daniel in the dark, especially since some aspects of their lives had changed rather drastically. They not only had that one night of passion, but several other’s following it. Daniel cheated on Melissa, but he refused to acknowledge it. he didn’t know how to break up with Melissa, especially since there were so many other things to be considered. Like if molly was still alive.   
  
Betty also needed to go to New York to sort it out with the courts that she would be Rosa’s legal guardian, there were several loopholes they had managed to break through allowing Betty to apply to adopt Rosa, one of them being that Rosa was still a US citizen, by some miracle- meaning they had to be in New York for that to take place. Betty felt awful that she was keeping the transfer of parental rights back to her a secret.   
  
She had looked into many different options, such as revoking the consent of the adoption- however because it was over two different continents, let alone countries, not to mention seven years had gone by without them even considering it Betty wouldn’t have a strong case.   
  
But Jane was Rosa’s legal guardian, since the adoptive parents had no traceable kin, and they named Jane as Rosa’s guardian, so Jane could make the decision whether or not to let Betty have Rosa back. Betty suspected Jane was named for a number of reasons that had to do with the investigation into the trust fund left for Rosa.  
  
Betty fell asleep almost instantly on the plane, feeling more exhausted than she had done in a long time, although she partially blamed the stress of hiding everything from Melissa, and most of it from Daniel. Betty knew there were things Daniel was hiding from her as well. he had been discussing about the house, Daniel knew Betty wanted to stay on in New York, and Betty knew that Alexis was sending someone- other than Daniel- over to salvage MODE UK, so that there wouldn’t be any need for him there. But, Betty hadn’t shared that she was a lot closer to regaining custody of Rosa than Daniel and Melissa were.   
  
Suddenly a shock of turbulence woke Betty from her sleep. She jolted awake, seeing Rosa asleep next to her. Jane was awake and reading a magazine.  
  
“hello, the first of our sleepyheads,” she smiled at Betty, sipping a cup of coffee. Betty held onto her stomach, feeling even worse with the rapid bumping of the plane.  
  
“hey, Jane.”  
  
“Betty, you don’t look so good,” she looked around for a flight attendant.  
  
“I don’t feel so good,” she sighed, sitting back against the chair and trying to calm down.  
  
“don’t worry, we are nearly there. Rosa has been asleep nearly as long as you have,” Jane smiled, looking at the sleeping little girl to Betty’s right.  
  
“where is Daniel?” Betty asked, trying to turn around, but getting dizzier in the process.   
  
“right behind you. are you okay Betty?” he asked, placing a gentle hand on Betty’s shoulder. Betty nodded, she felt uneasy for some reason. Daniel withdrew his hand from her shoulder after giving it a gentle squeeze, she could hear him settling back in his seat.  
  
“Jane, I have a couple of questions about the adoption,” Betty said, lowering her voice. It wasn’t that wise to conduct this conversation with Daniel and DJ literally sitting behind them, however Daniel had his earphones in and DJ was a teenager, a bomb could go off and Betty doubted it would be able to tear him away from his phone screen.  
  
“Betty, luv… I need to talk about that too, but is this the right time?”   
  
Betty responded quickly, lowering her voice even more as she saw Rosa stir slightly. “I need to talk about this before we land. If I know my family, we aren’t going to have a moment of peace,”  
  
“okay. You know how I said that they started to investigate Rosa’s adoption-,” Betty nodded. Jane had been looking at Rosa’s birth certificates, not just because she was the one who adopted her, but with the news of the trust fund only to be opened when the adoptive parents died. This was an indication that her being sent away wasn’t because the parents were unfit, or even wanted that to happen. Especially when the adoptive parents gave her the account of when they met with Daniel and Betty.  
  
“yes.” Betty felt her heart rate increase, there was something important about to be said.  
  
“well, I have just looked through the adoption paper’s again… and,” Betty looked over at the adoption paper’s in her hands, under the pretence of being a magazine. “it appears that the transfer of parental rights didn’t go through,”  
  
“what do you mean, didn’t go through?” Betty asked, her voice shaking slightly.  
  
“it appears that you still have the parental rights to Rosa, you and Daniel. this paperwork is terrible, I should know, I do work with children and there is a lot of paperwork. There are so many mistakes, I wonder how it went through at all?” she shrugged, looking at Betty to see if there was any sign of a reaction.  
  
“so there doesn’t need to be a court case?” Betty asked, looking at Rosa as she put her arm around her daughter’s shoulders. She couldn’t believe that all this time Rosa wasn’t actually adopted, fostered maybe…  
  
“how did they find out?”  
  
“there were certain permissions for childhood vaccinations, were the doctors said only her parents could sign them. They argued that they were her parents, showing them the adoption papers. Somehow, they missed the faults in this,” Jane shrugged again, while Betty felt as if her entire life had been blown wide open. She had all parental rights to Rosa, she had done her entire life. Rosa’s adoption was now in question, but less so the legal side and more the moral side.   
  
She could easily have Rosa come and live with her straight away, but where? Betty wanted to live in New York, which would mean pulling Rosa away from everything she had ever known- including Jane, who she looked up to. there was also the fact that the falsities in the document of her adoption were in fact not valid and Betty and Daniel still retained parental rights. Then it would be the battle between who would look after Rosa. Daniel was named on her birth certificate, so he still had parental rights- however she didn’t want Melissa near Rosa.   
  
As far as Daniel knew, Rosa didn’t have a particular legal guardian, or someone looking after her since her official parents hadn’t changed at all, while Melissa was prepared to fight for adoption of Rosa.  
  
“I am still going to check it with lawyers to make sure you still have parental rights,” Jane closed the magazine, seeing the plane was descending.  
  
“Jane… she knows you better than anyone, I really need you to have a voice,” Betty felt Rosa stir next to her, as Jane leant over the arm rest and whispered to Betty.   
  
“I want you to keep her safe, especially from that Melissa,” before Rosa woke up as the seatbelt sign pinged on.  
  
“mummy, what is going on?” she asked, rubbing her eyes, as they descended into JFK airport. Betty looked at the steel grey sky, it looked like it would snow soon. Betty smiled at the sky, she was excited for the impending snow, especially getting to see Rosa experience snow. There were so many experiences Betty had missed with Rosa. She was looking forward to seeing the whole thing.   
  
“we are landing,” Betty turned Rosa slightly to look out the window, her face breaking into a wide smile. Betty smiled happily at the mirth of her daughter.  
  
“wow, what does daddy think of this? daddy?” she turned around to see Daniel grinning through the gap in the worn seats at Rosa.  
  
“I am glad to be home, Rosa.” He said, smiling too at his daughter. Betty could hear DJ’s muffled grunt of a response when Daniel too urged him to look out of the window.  
  
“daddy, who are we going to see when we get here?” Rosa asked, trying to turn around as much as she could with her seatbelt on. Betty looked at Rosa who was still fascinated by outside, but Betty could see she was anxious about seeing so many new people for the first time.   
  
“Rosa, there are a lot of people who have been waiting a long time to see you, so there is going to be a lot of people, but don’t worry, Jane will be here, and me and daddy and cousin DJ will be here.” Betty hadn’t told Rosa about all her family, however she had met Christina and some of Daniel’s family already so that was a good sign that she could handle the introductions quite well.  
  
“will they be nice? because the other girls are mean, they hide my glasses, well, they did that to my old ones,” she sighed, looking sad. Too sad for betty to bear.  
  
“they will love you, I promise. All my family want to see you so much. And daddy’s family is really happy too,” they discussed what they were going to do all while they were landing, probably to get Rosa’s mind of the plane landing and the fear she constantly had that they were just going to crash.   
  
They did manage to land safely to be met by Claire and a town car on the runway. It was more of a limo, considering she had to fit six people in the back.  She smiled as they walked across the tarmac, Daniel engulfing his mother in a hug.  
  
“I knew Alexis was here, you spoke in the background, and you all had me convinced DJ was coming to see you!” Daniel’s first words were to his mom, who smiled at him.  
  
“thank you, Daniel, dear. It is lovely to see you too,” she said somewhat dryly, hugging him and practically ambushing DJ in another hug. Before she turned to Betty. Rosa was hiding behind Jane, who was smiling diminutively behind Betty, despite having the information that could make or break their lives with Rosa. “Betty, it is so good to see you,” she hugged Betty, while Betty smiled gladly at her, then stepped aside to see Rosa.  
  
“is this the granddaughter I have heard so much about?” Claire asked, smiling at Rosa. Rosa nodded, stepping forward slightly.  
  
“yes. I think my middle name is after your name,” she said smiling at Claire. Claire grinned, leaning down to hug Rosa as she had done with the rest of her family.  
  
“I see you have inherited your mommy’s intelligence,” she looked towards Daniel with an amused grin on her face “thank god,” Daniel responded by stuttering a reply that if he managed to say without doing so wouldn’t have been suitable for Rosa’s young ears. His mother’s sense of humour had gotten progressively more sarcastic since Daniel had left to go between France and New York constantly, maybe it was a side effect as having Amanda as your upcoming daughter in law.  
  
“thank you. can I call you Claire?” Rosa asked, now leaning against Betty’s side.  
  
“of course, you can,” Claire responded as Betty walked them towards the limo. She laughed at the way Rosa’s eyes bugged out behind her new purple frames when she saw the limo, clambering in to sit between Betty and Daniel but being able to look out of the window still.   
  
They got to Betty’s house in queens where Betty felt her heart swell, Papi was home now, and he was going to see his first granddaughter. betty was so excited at seeing her family for the first time in a year. She still felt bad at having Daniel pay for everything, however the guilt was somewhat lessened from having their daughter want to visit to.  
  
Rosa had been captivated by the view that went by outside the window, the tall buildings and larger cars than the ones that she was used to in London. everything felt… bigger. Rosa had stared at the towering skyscrapers, equally grey against the slate of the sky. She had slightly shrunk into her mother’s side seeing that, while Betty pulled her closer, the sense of awe overtaking her too. But she seemed suddenly a lot shyer than before, reluctantly stepping out of the limo and onto the pavement. Compared to the large buildings queens seemed brighter, more familiar. Betty relaxed slightly. Especially when Hilda threw herself out of the house, screaming like she hadn’t seen Betty in years, let alone a single one.  
  
“chica! Oh my god, it is really you! I was beginning to think you weren’t coming back!” Hilda yelled, flinging her arms around Betty as everyone else exited the limo. Betty smiled, gently detaching herself from her sister and hugged her fiercely.  
  
“I think you are missing introductions,” Betty gestured to the little girl beside her, shyly biting her lip in the same way Betty and Daniel both did.  
  
“oh, right. Hello, I am your auntie Hilda- oh, I like aunty Hilda, although they call me mama Hilda down at the shop but that is mainly because I have Bella down there all the time,” Hilda laughed, while Rosa blinked at her aunt, unsure. Hilda returned to Betty’s level, giving her sister a hug, before gesturing for everyone to come inside with her. they all trooped into the house, Betty missing the colours of their living room as they sat around. Ignacio was sitting in his chair, watching as they all poured through the door, before bobby and Justin came into the living room, holding her small niece.  
  
“hey guys, wow. Everyone came,” Daniel snatched DJ’s phone off of him so he would be partially conscious for the introductions and announcements throughout the day, with there being one topic that everyone avoided, Melissa and Rosa’s adoption. Hilda knew all about Melissa, the pictures, her threats to take Rosa from Betty, although if Jane’s suspicions were correct that would be impossible. Betty was really glad that Wilhelmina relied on lawyers she could blackmail, and could be blackmailed.   
  
This meant that Betty could get her daughter back, since in the eyes of the law she never properly left. Only, to add to the million other questions she had about Melissa, she now had queries over the death of Rosa’s adoptive parents, the ‘tragic accident’ may not have been so accidental after all the evidence she and Jane had looked over. but, also- who would bribe or corrupt Wilhelmina’s lawyer into doing the paperwork  
incorrectly.  
  
Wilhelmina’s lawyers were shady, but good at what they did. Probably why they were so corruptible, but who would make sure Betty still had parental rights? And what was the catch?


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!

Betty sat on the end of the bed, it was only five in the afternoon, however both Rosa and Betty were falling asleep at the moment. Betty had decided to put Rosa to bed since she didn’t want her getting too tired, as she had nearly fallen asleep eating flan at the table.   
  
Now Rosa was in Justin’s old room which he had converted into a very posh guest bedroom for whenever he stayed at Ignacio’s. Jane was staying in Hilda’s old room, because she bobby and Justin had all gone back to their apartment in the city. Rosa was already asleep, dressed in her pyjamas that she brought with her.  
  
Betty watched her daughter sleep for a little while, not believing the good luck she had encountered with wanting to readopt Rosa, especially since there probably wouldn’t have to be any courts involved. She was worried about Rosa not wanting to live with her, especially if it meant leaving all her friends in the UK, but she only had one real friend- Madison.  
  
That was Ralph’s daughter as Betty found out the day after she had found Rosa. Which involved babysitting Madison for ralph. Not an experience Betty wanted to repeat. It was like babysitting an 8-year-old Amanda. Who Betty had convinced her father to take Madison to live with him too in the US. So, Rosa would have one friend here, at least.   
  
What Betty found out was that Rosa really wanted to go. She didn’t want to be left behind, calling Betty and Daniel mummy and daddy already, following them around like she was a second shadow. Whenever Betty came to visit her at boarding school Rosa always cried when Betty had to go. Something that made Betty cry too.  
  
She stepped into her old bedroom, while Daniel was downstairs talking to Ignacio and Jane. He was supposed to be sleeping on the couch, although Betty thought that was unlikely. He was probably going to crawl into her bed. which he did, hours later.  
  
“Betty,” he gently patted her shoulder. Betty looked up from her haze of sleep to frown at him.  
  
“why are you waking me up?” she asked, rolling over to face him.  
  
“I couldn’t sleep- I wanted a cuddle,” Daniel wrapped his arms around her, bringing her head to rest on his chest. Betty tried not to breathe in his scent otherwise she would find herself willingly doing whatever Daniel asked her to.  
  
“I know what kind of cuddle you want, and not here Daniel. Rosa is a couple of rooms over,” she sighed, kissing Daniel gently. However, Daniel didn’t try anything, instead cradling her to his chest. They hadn’t been able to help themselves for the six weeks they had been waiting to go to New York they had been all over each other at every possible moment.   
  
“I need to talk about Rosa’s adoption. I am really worried Melissa will get sanction to adopt Rosa before we have properly discussed this. we don’t talk about this, we only-,”   
  
“make love?” Betty suggested, kissing Daniel’s jaw line. She knew Daniel didn’t want to cheat, and as much as she didn’t like Melissa she didn’t want to ruin someone’s relationship. But when it came to each other, neither Daniel nor Betty could help themselves.  
  
“Betty, I don’t want to do that now. I need to strategize. I need to get out of this relationship- but I don’t know how,” he said. This wasn’t the first time since their little slip up on the night they had both returned from the hospital, that he had said he wanted to break up with Melissa. Betty understood it wasn’t easy. It wasn’t the type of relationship where they could simply put their stuff in a box that had accumulated in the other one’s apartment. They had been living together, albeit in multiple addresses for the last year. Melissa had bought a _house_ in her name with his money, as well as looking at adoption papers with him.  
  
This was one of the anomaly’s that Daniel had to get through with Betty, to stop the forwarding of Rosa’s adoption. But to do that Daniel needed to know what was going on. because all the reports said Rosa hadn’t been adopted.  
  
“you need to stop the deal with the house going through, I don’t know- get an injunction, maybe. You have had to stop a lot of people in your life before.” Betty sighed, as Daniel held onto her waist, cradling her to him.  
  
“it isn’t just the house,”  
  
“what is it then, Daniel?” Betty asked, rolling over onto her back, looking at the darkened ceiling. She was tired of the excuses, worried that Daniel was turning back into the playboy who broke women’s hearts. It was almost as if he didn’t want to break up with Melissa, although she could be hiding some pretty big things from him.  
  
“Betty… we found out something about Rosa, when Melissa was looking through her adoption records, I don’t know if it is an oversight or what, but… Rosa didn’t appear to be adopted. There were no adoption records for Rosa, not online, even though Melissa somehow managed to find a copy of the paper ones. She is having a lawyer look over them now,” with that Betty shot out of bed her eyes wide.  
  
“no!” Betty practically screamed at Daniel, who remained seated, shocked. If Melissa found out that Betty and Daniel still had the parental rights then she could just take Rosa from them, especially if Daniel was still with her.  
  
“are you okay Betty?” Betty knew that Daniel would be on her side if it regarded the welfare of Rosa, she might as well tell him.  
  
“she wasn’t adopted, there was a problem with the paperwork. Her adoptive parents were investigating when they died. Apparently, we still hold all parental rights, but Melissa cannot know that,”  
  
“er… what?” Daniel stuttered, looking angry. Betty climbed back into bed, until she was straddling Daniel’s lap. Hopefully this would make Daniel more receptive to the actual truth, told by Betty.  
  
“before you get mad- I just found out today, I don’t actually know yet. Jane was the one who discovered it… about Jane,” Daniel let out of a breath, resting his head back against the head board.  
  
“is she involved in the Connor-molly-Melissa thing too?” he said, distrustful.  
  
“no, she isn’t. she was named to be Rosa’s legal guardian after the adoptive parent’s death,”  
  
“she was a family friend; how could that happen?” Daniel asked looking confused as he ran his hands up to Betty’s face, pulling her down to kiss him.  
  
“they named her in their will, she had been investigating it too. Wilhelmina made up the adoption paper’s, but there was a flaw or something because they weren’t valid. Which means all we have to do is change Rosa’s address, and she will live with us. I just don’t want Melissa near her,”  
  
“Betty, I need to get that picture to ask her before I just break up with her. she knows too much, she is using my money to buy the house- she is getting closer and closer to Rosa,” Betty snatched Daniel’s phone off of the side, pressing it into his palms.   
  
“you need to call her, say she cannot look at anything, Rosa isn’t a British citizen, she won’t be able to do anything. Say you have lawyers looking over here at her case,” Betty watched as Daniel dialled the phone, speaking to Melissa through the headset.  
  
“hey, babe. Yeah, apparently, Rosa is still a US citizen, so I have to look at her case… yeah, I did just call you to say that, it has been a long day don’t forget,” Daniel bit his lip, listening to Melissa speak again. “no, I spoke to Jane, she is Rosa’s guardian… no I just found out… Melissa, I don’t know why she didn’t tell us, even if we were Rosa’s biological parents doesn’t mean we are automatically safe. It doesn’t state the reasons for adoption, you know this. you examined the certificate... I know there are no online records, maybe you are looking in the wrong place, or they are void… No, because her adoptive parents died, so the adoption records are void, since her guardian is now- no it is Jane. I don’t care if she doesn’t like you, Melissa you haven’t given yourself much reason to be liked-,” Daniel looked at his phone with a mixture of confusion.  
  
“what is wrong?” Betty’s legs were either side of his hips as she bent down to kiss him again.  
  
“she hung up on me!” he put his phone back on the bedside table smiling as Betty gripped a hold of his hands.  
  
“well you did say that she hadn’t given much reason to be liked,” Betty’s kisses got more and more frantic, nibbling his lip as she traced his toned chest through his Harvard tee shirt.  
  
“okay, okay miss hypocrite, you have said much worse things about her,” Daniel said, running his hands over Betty’s belly and thighs. “anyway, why are you coming onto me? we have a sleeping seven-year-old who has a habit of crawling into your bed,” Rosa has already shown how attached to Betty she was. When she fell asleep on the plane she practically ended up asleep in her mother’s lap. Occasionally Betty had stayed over at the boarding school, in one of the private rooms, were Betty slept on a couch, only to wake up and see Rosa asleep next to her.   
  
“I don’t think she will, she has been drooping all afternoon.” She kissed Daniel again, which Daniel responded to their free slot by stripping off her shirt. They kissed closely, eagerly exploring each other’s bodies, getting into the moment of passion. Betty missed being with Daniel, even with a few hours of separation she found herself craving contact.   
  
  
Betty woke to silence, except for Daniel’s light snoring as he hugged her even closer to his body. She shifted slightly tired even as she had woken up, not to mention the clenching of her stomach as she didn’t feel well. another thing became apparent to what woke Betty up since Rosa was standing beside the bed, prodding her arm.  
  
“mummy, wake up!” she said, poking Betty again. Betty sleepily opened her eyes, glad after her lovemaking she had put back on her pyjamas.  
  
“what is it, Rosa?” she asked, getting out of bed.  
  
“I’m hungry, no one is awake yet.”  
  
“Rosa, it is five in the morning,” she understood why Rosa was awake so early, not just because she went to bed early, but because of the time difference it would be quite later in the day. She nodded, but crawled onto the bed, while Betty shifted over.  
  
“so, can you buy me breakfast? I know you can’t cook,” Betty chuckled at that, letting Rosa under the covers, smiling at her daughter’s blunt honesty, showing the sides of Claire that were in her DNA.  
  
“maybe, your grandpa will get up… or we could go out and get some breakfast? We could go into the city with daddy?” Betty suggested. Rosa blinked her dark lashes at her mom, nodding happily.  
  
“cool, is Jane coming? She is awake.” Betty smiled, Rosa just wanted to go and see the city. Sometimes Betty was surprised at how easily Rosa had adapted to having readymade parents, sometimes Betty seemed slower on the uptake than Rosa did. Rosa was happy to hug her, climb on her lap and fall asleep next to her mom, less so with Daniel- which worried him. he wondered why Rosa was a bit more cautious of him than Betty, since she had yet to cling onto her dad like she did with Betty. although that may have something do with Melissa, who she had met a few weeks before and absolutely hated. She associated her father with that, which didn’t make him the most trustworthy person in Rosa’s book. something that deeply upset Daniel.  
  
“is she. Let me go ask her, shall we see if she wants to come too?” Betty asked, but Rosa bit her lip.  
  
“Jane said she wants me to have some time with just you, and I don’t mind,” she shrugged her shoulders, Betty smiled. She moved out of bed, stretching and ignoring how queasy she was feeling. They met Jane who was downstairs with a pot of coffee, smiling as she poured a cup for herself and Betty. Betty shook her head at the idea of the coffee, grimacing.  
  
“so, Rosa suggested we take her out for breakfast in the city, although I don’t think many people will be awake right now?” Betty said, gently tickling Rosa, who giggled.   
  
“yes, I felt she needed some bonding time with you two. Where is Daniel?”  
  
“still asleep, but do you want to watch some television? Huh? Before daddy wakes up?” Rosa nodded, running to the television and switching it on immediately. Justin must have been watching TV the night before, since it was already tuned to fashion buzz.   
  
_Guess who has gone with the trends… or set them! New MODE creative director, marc St. James and his protégée Justin Suarez painted the new style icon for this new MODE era! While Wilhelmina is off chasing her own hunk of great barrier beef off into the overly competitive publishing industry with a new luxury fashion magazine, such like her tragically demised ‘slater’ however with more concentration on the over forties set, something that may be affiliated with her recent peace treaty with Claire Meade._  
  
Betty watched as an older, yet no less bitchy Suzuki started talking about MODE life. Betty knew most of the stuff, especially that Justin was becoming a minor celebrity along with marc, although he didn’t do anything to hide that. Rosa was watching in fascination, with the people she knew on there, including Claire and Justin.  
  
“mummy, that is cousin Justin, and grandma Claire,” she pointed to the screen. Betty sat next to her with a smile on her face. she had missed fashion buzz and the bitchy comments of Suzuki.   
  
_So, we have intel that today is the November showing of Justin and marc’s new fashion show, featuring body un-conscious designs. No, seriously they are doing something for the fatties, although it might be because marc’s best friend is harbouring a baby, made of the daughter of the late great fay Sommers, and the illegitimate hottest Meade child to hit the scene._  
  
“hey, he is not the hottest!” came Daniel’s protest as he came down the stairs fully dressed to go out, smirking at the scene on the television. He smiled at Betty and Rosa, both sitting on the couch, staring at the television intently. “so, do you want to go to the show full of the healthy models?” he asked, ruffling Rosa’s hair.   
  
“yes please, was it inspired from our show?” Betty asked, smiling at Daniel. “I was a model for that, you know?” she said to Rosa, who was beaming at her parents. She was obviously excited to uncover who she really was.  
  
They were going to let her do that, but had to find a way of taking Melissa down. Daniel just had a bunch of questions first, like when he finally broke up with Melissa, something that he had been unintentionally dragging his heels about. It was as if whenever he found some way, or something he could justify leaving her after two years, a new problem came up. Something that would make it difficult for him to do so, or damn near dangerous. But he wanted to know whether or not he would ever get Betty back.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry I forgot to post yesterday! I have been really busy with writing (more detty), and real life! I will be posting as normal from this point- or trying to!  
> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty.

Daniel stepped in line with Betty and Rosa, striding across the New York streets. Rosa was bundled up in many layers, with New York being slightly colder than what she was used to. she stood between Daniel and Betty, being excited by everyone and everything. Not just her breakfast from a bodega in times square.

She held onto Betty’s hand tightly, as they made their way to the MODE building. Betty was excited to see Justin at work, as well as to see marc and Amanda again. it would be a great reunion, especially with her recent contact with Amanda… who didn’t know about Rosa. She smiled happily at them, still eating her hot dog which she had insisted on having for breakfast- especially since she was in New York.

“mummy, when you did the runway bit were you pregnant with me?” Rosa asked, still eating, with a combination of the frantically added mustard and ketchup all over her face. Betty reached down to wipe it off, because even if MODE was having fashion shows for regular women, set up by marc… of all people? They still wouldn’t be very receptive to Rosa if she was covered in ketchup.

“no, you were adopted then,” Betty said. One thing else they hadn’t told her was that she was adopted by the family who had died, you shouldn’t really tell a vulnerable seven-year-old those type of things, in Betty’s book.

“oh, but will you be doing it today?” she asked, swinging from Betty’s hands.

Betty responded with a laugh, pulling Rosa up between her and Daniel so her red shoes didn’t touch the ground. “no, I don’t think so. But, mummy knows the people who are running it,”

“yes, cousin Justin,” she nodded her head, still swinging her hand, now that the hot dog had been devoured.

“there are others too, like uncle marc. He and auntie Amanda held you when you were born,”

“wow, they have known me for ages!” Rosa said, returning to the ground as she skipped beside Betty and Daniel. Daniel saw the Meade building ahead, with Connor and Wilhelmina exiting it. his eyes widened. He had seen the picture, he knew that Connor was somehow involved, mainly because he saw him hand in hand with his ex-late-fiancée and Daniel’s current fiancée. It wasn’t unusual for him to be outside Meade.

It was well known in the publishing world that Wilhelmina and Claire had somehow managed to control themselves and not try and kill each other, especially over the last six weeks they had signed a deal with each other, to allow Wilhelmina and Connor’s new magazine to thrive. However, while Connor may be married to Wilhelmina, it didn’t mean that he was allowed inside the Meade building, just in the foyer.

Daniel spotted him talking to Wilhelmina, it would be like killing two birds with one stone. Investigate what was going on with Melissa subtly, show Wilhelmina that she couldn’t have complete power over him by the presence of Rosa. Who was never officially adopted. He nodded at Betty, striding ahead, while Betty walked along with Rosa, still clutching her hand. They had taken the subway into the city, the first time for both Daniel and Rosa. Something which surprised Betty… not that much.

“Where is daddy going?”

“to speak to that lady, and that man,” Rosa studied Wilhelmina closely from that distance, while Betty felt her hand being squeezed tighter.

“is she the witch?” Rosa asked, intuitively. Betty nodded, Wilhelmina didn’t look like one of the normal witches you read about in fairy tales, unless they had their hair done and wore $1200 worth of makeup every day.

“yes… you don’t have to talk to her if you don’t want to,” Betty guessed that by the way Rosa was burrowing into her coat.

“no thank you. when can we go, and see cousin Justin?” she asked, pulling Betty along with surprising strength. Betty got inside the Meade lobby, where before she could actually breathe someone launched themselves at her.

“Betty! Oh my god! did you have another child when you were in Mexico?” she asked, hugging her best friend. Betty eventually got Amanda to let go of her, and pointed to Rosa.

“no, Amanda, this is my daughter, Rosa.”

“that’s Rosa! Where did you find her? in Mexico?” she asked, hugging Betty again. while Betty tried to explain to Amanda that she had, in fact, been in London for the past four years and that is where she found Rosa she began to worry that Daniel wasn’t back yet.

Daniel stood outside, getting closer to Wilhelmina and Connor. Maybe it wouldn’t be best to tell Wilhelmina that the adoption didn’t go through, he wasn’t about to let Wilhelmina take his baby away again.

He stepped past them, only to be stopped by the diva immediately. She turned him around, a look of shock on her face at seeing the son of the late publishing mogul. “Daniel?” she asked, raising her eyebrows. “I heard you were galivanting around London, I didn’t expect you back in New York so soon?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

“yeah, I am here with Betty. We went to see her family,”

“what about Melissa?” Connor piped up, looking at Daniel. “I heard you were involved with Melissa Levan,”

“yeah…” Daniel narrowed his eyes at Connor’s little slip up, not wanting to make a big deal out of it, even if it had affirmed his knowledge, still he was going to be seeing Alexis soon to discover the truth. “well, she isn’t here right now, so…” both Wilhelmina and Connor looked intrigued, however Daniel could tell Connor was stressed, his jaw was clenched when Daniel had said that.

“right, well it was nice to see you Daniel. how is Betty?” Wilhelmina asked, looking as if she genuinely cared.

“she is good, yeah… she is just considering moving back to New York. which is good since I am constantly going between France and New York.”

Wilhelmina smirked, looking at her manicured nails as Connor looked confused, Daniel didn’t know why they were so interested, but Daniel was going to prove to Connor that conspiring with his fiancée wouldn’t work. He didn’t really love her, but she didn’t want to let go. He knew she hadn’t been the most faithful, he caught her screwing her boss, asked her about it, she promised she would never do it again. he wasn’t sure he believed her now.

“what?” Connor asked, looking at the somewhat grinning Wilhelmina.

“Daniel will never be able to stay away from Betty,” she smiled, walking off. Daniel raised his eyebrows slightly perturbed as to why Wilhelmina and Connor were suddenly so interested in his love life. He shrugged, going back into the Meade lobby after Betty.

Connor stood on the side walk in the cold New York breeze, hearing a chime from his phone, getting ready to follow Wilhelmina. he looked down, it was a text from Melissa.

Melissa: THEY KNOW

  
Betty smiled, sitting in marc’s office with Rosa on her lap. She was still hiding in Betty’s coat lapels as she sat on her mom’s lap. She had only spoken to a few people, after Amanda’s rather extravagant display of welcome.

Marc stormed into his office, not having seen Betty and Rosa yet. This was sure to surprise him. Daniel had gone down to the canteen to get them some lunch, and then to another bodega to get Rosa’s lunch, since Betty refused to let Rosa have the non-caloric space food served at the MODE canteen. She was a little girl, she needed proper nutrition.

He went to his desk, not immediately noticing Betty as she stifled a giggle. Suddenly marc turned around, jumping at the sight of Betty holding a shy seven-year-old girl on her lap. He nearly dropped his lunch and his files.

“I thought I smelt a burrito! Chimichanga, you have returned from Londinum. What are you doing back here, remember, you left the halls of MODE behind you?”

“hi marc,” Betty got up, giving the diva a hug, while Rosa still sat on the chair.

“hello, and who is this? are you a nanny now?” he bent down to smile at Rosa, before his eyes widened. “oh god! Don’t tell me! this is the prodigal child, and she hath return-eth!” Betty chucked, she didn’t know what had happened, but marc seemed more camp than ever.

“yep, this is Rosa. She is my daughter,” she turned to Rosa, pulling her off the chair to stand next to Betty. Rosa didn’t look up “Rosa, this is marc. He held you when you were born,” she brushed Rosa’s hair out of her face, it had been somewhat styled by Justin, since he was determined to make his cousin look fabulous.

“hello,” Rosa said, raising her head and smiling at marc. He smiled back.

“wow, she looks like you- only she has Daniel’s eyes.”

“I wish she didn’t have my eyesight though!” Betty said, as Rosa started to explore marc’s office, climbing over the chairs in the main bit of it. marc had taken over Daniel’s office, as he was still creative director, although it looked as if he was going to be getting a very handsome promotion soon, according to Amanda.

“so, what brings you back, Betty?” marc asked, collapsing in his office chair.

“erm… well, my magazine kind of shut down,” Betty wasn’t ready to tell the whole world, but she figured if she could tell Daniel then she could tell marc and Amanda. They might be quite annoying but they were still her friends.

“I heard about that. I am sorry Betty, you did really well though. I have almost every issue,”

“really? You’ve changed marc,” Betty smiled at him, surprised that the diva even knew about her magazine.

“I fell in love, it softens all of us, even willie.” Marc sighed, looking at a framed picture on his desk. Suddenly Daniel popped through the door, with bags of food. “look it is daddy Daniel,”

“hi marc, and please don’t call me that?” he put the phone down in Betty’s hands, standing behind the chair. Rosa came running over.

“it is okay, so how are things going in family Suarez? Or should I say Meade?” he asked, looking between Daniel and Betty interestedly. Betty frowned, peering into the bag. Daniel seemed to have skipped the MODE cafeteria and got burger’s instead, as well as a pretzel for Rosa.

“we aren’t together marc. We just have Rosa with us,” Daniel said, handing Betty the food. Betty turned away, hoping neither Daniel nor marc would see the betrayal on her face. she knew Daniel couldn’t tell anyone about their… activities, but he didn’t have to seem so cold about it.

“oh yes, because Daniel is all up in that model’s junk, Melissa Levan?” he asked. Daniel nodded, somewhat solemnly.

“yeah, but I wouldn’t call it ‘all up in her junk’, marc. He is engaged to her,” Betty supplied.

“wow, so he bought the prize cow. Mandy knows her you know, she hates her more than other people. And it isn’t just because she is a model,” marc looked at his computer, his eyes bulging out at something on there, already having moved to another topic. While Betty and Daniel remained on the Melissa issue.

“wait, Amanda doesn’t like Melissa?” Betty asked, as Rosa started to eat her lunch.

“no, she doesn’t. but when is that a surprise, Amanda doesn’t like a lot of people, especially ones who are screwing over d-,” marc suddenly looked up from his computer, suddenly aware of his audience.

“what was the end of that sentence, marc?” Daniel asked, his voice low with anger. Marc looked back to his screen, shrugging in an overly pompous manner.

“I forgot, busy, busy talk to you later, oh- take your child with you,” marc sprung up from his chair, running to the door to show them out.  
They needed to speak to Amanda. Even though she had left MODE a long time ago, to pursue her dreams of being a stylist Amanda still prowled the halls at MODE. Amanda who knew more gossip than practically all the tabloids put together.

“betty, I think I am going to find Amanda.”

“I will, you need to go and talk to Alexis about that picture,” she patted his chest, kissing him lightly on the cheek. he tried to respond with an infinitely more passionate kiss, but she had already gone.

  
“Amanda, wait up!” Betty was chasing the blonde through the closet, well, chasing was a bit of a stretch, but Amanda had her headphones in and was off to do something somewhere else. Rosa was walking with Betty, but she was practically running along to catch up with her mom.

“mummy, slow down,” she decided to let go of Betty’s hand, instead sitting down in the hallway. Betty looked between Amanda’s retreating figure and Rosa sitting on the ground stubbornly. She decided to give Rosa a piggy back, she needed to talk to Amanda. This was very important.

“do you want a piggy back?” Betty asked, bending down slightly. Rosa stopped scowling, jumping up onto Betty’s back. Betty could walk a bit faster with Rosa, who was small for a seven-year-old, and not trying to run after her.

They eventually got to the closet where they found Amanda and Helen, sitting together and working on a new dress. Betty was impressed, they were trying the designer thing, with a bit more training it seemed. Rosa wiggled to be let down, running over to the dress immediately, and then to the designs.

“Betty! Rosa!” Amanda yelled, having the tape measure slung over her shoulders, drooped over her large belly.

“hey, Amanda. I needed to talk to you,” out of the corner of her eye Betty noticed Rosa was starting to play around with the materials, watched by Helen.

“what is up, Betty? Also, do you like our styles?” she asked, pointing to the dress that was on a mannequin. It was stunning, made out of shiny patent leather in a rich blue with geometric designs. Very Amanda.

“yeah, they are amazing, Amanda!” she took a second to appreciate them, still watching Rosa who had taken a pencil and was now scribbling on one of the papers. Betty remembered that Rosa badly wanted to be a fashion designer, maybe some of the fashion genes from Daniel had slipped in there somewhere. Maybe she would get her some stuff for designing clothes for her birthday?

“thanks, so what is up?”

“we just went to see marc, he said something about… Melissa, Daniel’s new fiancée,” Betty lowered her voice slightly, moving over to whisper in Amanda’s ear. Amanda scowled at the mention of her.

“I hate her, she is such a bitch, and normally I respect other skinny bitches because they aren’t as fabby as yours truly. But, she is so…” she stopped narrowing her eyes at Betty, who seemed a bit taken aback. Sure, Amanda didn’t like her when they first started, but that was more to do with Betty getting the job she had been striving for years. “what did marc say? Was it in front of Daniel?”

“yeah, it was. He had just delivered our lunches to where we were seeing marc. Marc said that you didn’t like her because she was screwing over Daniel. he only got to the D part of his name, but I knew what he was going to say,” Betty said.

“okay…” Amanda moved away from Betty, and back to the design table, pointing to stuff that Helen was stitching. Betty wasn’t going to let Amanda do what she always did by running off and evading questions.

“Amanda, you are going to tell me! this includes Rosa as well,” she whispered the last bit, looking at Rosa, who had taken a hold of the glitter glue lying around on the table.

“what?” Amanda paled slightly, looking to the little girl by her side.

“she wants to adopt her with Daniel-,”

“no! you mustn’t let that happen!” Amanda butted in before Betty had the chance to explain anything else. Betty knew it wouldn’t be very likely since she still had the parental rights, so there was no child to adopt. But she was willing to pretend otherwise if it would get information out of Amanda.

“why not?” Betty asked, looking confused at Amanda, who blushed slightly, before grabbing her arm and pulling her off into fey Sommer’s secret room. that was now… a nursery? “erm, Amanda?”

“this is owned by momma Meade, so she turned it into a nursery for her third grandbaby,” she explained, sitting on the rocking chair, and cradling her stomach. “sometimes Justin brings Leah here,” Leah was her niece, very adorable, very sassy like her mother.

“Amanda, please tell me. I want to know Rosa is safe,” Betty said, looking back at the door. It was still open, although it now had handles both sides, and wasn’t disguised as a shelf anymore.

“okay… so I spoke to Alexis, when me and ty went to Mrs. Meade’s house for Christmas. Daniel and Melissa were there too. As well as your family,” Betty knew there had been a big congregation of Meade and Suarez family member’s over at the house, while Betty felt left out there wasn’t much she could do, stuck in London. “anyway, Alexis had gone out earlier, she is taking a photography class with her new camera, and so she went for a little walk. She came back with this weird picture, that she only showed to me, ty and Mrs. Meade because none of us liked Melissa.” Amanda sighed, looking scared and sad.

“the one with Connor and molly?”

“so, you saw it?” she didn’t look up still.

“yeah, Alexis sent it to me. Daniel saw it first,” Amanda sat up properly, clutching her belly first.

“oh crap! Did he ask Melissa? Did he get mad?”

Betty looked at the panic on her face “no, he was shocked. And mad at Melissa. Why are you so scared?”

“she is a liar,” Amanda hissed. “she lied about growing up in France. She isn’t French at all, her parents live there, but that was after they retired. She was also involved with Connor before…”

“what?” Betty screeched, then glanced the door before lowering her voice again “romantically?”

“uh, huh. I heard about it in a back issue of MODE, it was in one of the editor’s party pics,” she shrugged “anyway, I don’t know what is going on, but every time we meet she always starts to talk about Rosa. And about the adoption that she was planning with Daniel. then… I was with Mrs. Meade yesterday, we were looking over budgets for Meade to invest in me and Helen starting our own label- more missing money. But, it can’t be Connor because while Wilhelmina’s magazine is in the Meade building, it is separate from the other publications, it is exempt from moving money about,”

Betty was slightly stunned at how much Amanda knew, but there was something much more serious than Melissa being a liar. Missing money, that was serious- a repeat of the Connor incident. They would never suspect him again, major criminals didn’t strike twice in the same way on the same place, that was just stupid.

“so, it can’t be Connor?”

“he doesn’t hold any of the funds, he has been prohibited from handing money. Wilhelmina provides all the funding for her magazine. Anyway, they were all in Daniel’s name,” Amanda hissed. Betty felt her blood run cold. He must have been set up again? Daniel wouldn’t do that.  
“really? His mom knows he wouldn’t do that, right?”

“we are really confused, the first time it happened, it wasn’t hidden well enough- even if it would incriminate you and Daniel. that is what Mrs. Meade said, but this is the second time this has happened to Meade. But it is weird-,”

“wait, so, they are actually considering Daniel?” Betty could see the tiredness in Amanda’s eyes. It was clear she had lost sleep from this.

“I don’t know. He isn’t ever just in one country, as well as molly’s charity isn’t doing well. he is really low on funds for that. He has motive, opportunity…” Amanda was interrupted by Betty’s angry gaze.

“do you believe them?” she practically growled at a frightened Amanda.

“no. I have known Daniel for ages, I couldn’t believe he would do something like that. He is a good person, even in his playboy days.”

“who would be setting him up, he is still rich. He just bought a house,” Betty grimaced, only to have Rosa step into the room, and run over to her.

“mummy, your phone rang.” She held out Betty’s bag, which was still ringing. Betty was sitting on the couch, which faced Amanda in the rocking chair. Rosa climbed onto the white couch with her, putting her head against her mother’s shoulder.

“thank you, Rosa,” Betty pulled her phone out of her bag. It was Melissa, who Betty didn’t even know she had Betty’s new phone number.  
Amanda watched with interest, as Rosa brought over her drawings to show Amanda.

“hello?” Betty picked up the phone, hoping whatever Melissa had to say wouldn’t be too annoying.

“hey Betty, it is me Melissa. How is Daniel? he isn’t picking up his phone, is he with you?”

“no. I am with Rosa. We are at MODE. I don’t know where Daniel is,” Betty was curt, wanting to get back to what Amanda was telling her.

“oh. I was just worried about him yesterday, I tried to call him and he wouldn’t pick up,”

“when were, you calling him?”

“about eleven at night,” because Betty and Daniel went to bed early that is when they would have been doing something that caused them to be otherwise engaged, even if they were being quiet.

“oh, he had fallen asleep, all of us, including Rosa were so tired we just fell asleep.” Betty lied smoothly, although she could tell that Amanda didn’t believe that for one second, since she looked up with a raised eyebrow from praising Rosa’s drawing.

“okay, can you find him? and tell him to call me back, I miss him,” with that she hung up. Melissa’s voice was so sticky sweet Betty was surprised that her phone wasn’t dripping with honey when she looked away.

“oh Betty,” Amanda said, tilting her head in a manner that made Betty question her lying abilities.

“not in front of Rosa, please?” Betty asked, raising her eyebrows. Luckily Rosa hadn’t twigged that they were talking about her, she was too busy concentrating on the drawings.

“Rosa, those drawings are amazing. Why don’t you go and look at the fabric, Helen will show you how to sew something, do you like that?” Amanda asked. Rosa nodded, running back out of the room, and into the main part of the closet. “so… back to what you were saying, he just bought a house?!” she said, raising her eyebrows.

“well, Melissa did. She actually forged his signature…” Betty said, her eyes widening. “Melissa, she has access to all Daniel’s accounts. She put it in her name, but uses his money.”

“how is that possible?” Amanda asked, looking shocked.

“it is Daniel, he isn’t the most fiscally responsible,” Betty sighed. Amanda nodded, she knew that was the truth, even though Daniel had gotten better with his money, he wasn’t the most responsible person.

“no, but there is something else really weird about the movements of the money, that then goes missing. It isn’t large amounts at all, it is like a couple of thousand dollars, nothing major, just enough to trigger something when going through the accounts.” Amanda looked down at her perfect nails. Betty sighed, the world had changed, clearly being with Tyler was good for Amanda, she looked as if she was eating food, and reading books, judging by her knowledge of what was going on. her perception of money hadn’t changed though.

“god, Amanda I don’t know what to do,”

“take your mind off it, Claire is going to talk to Daniel today,”

“I need to tell him about that!” Betty said, moving up from the couch and gathering her bags in front of her. 

“so, you and Daniel, huh?” Amanda asked, moving onto the other highly debated topic “he is cheating on Melissa?”

“she won’t let him break up with her, whenever he tries she comes up with something new,” Betty sighed, although there was something bothering her. Daniel hadn’t responded to Melissa. She and Daniel made a pact to always answer when it when it was Melissa, if she had some damming thing to say. She needed to go and find him, make sure if he was okay.

“oh, so is he still doing that thing where -,”

“Amanda please?” she didn’t want another account of Daniel and Amanda’s very active sex life. “I need to go and find Daniel.” Betty said, sweeping out of the room, along with Rosa in tow when she made her way up to the Meade offices.

Daniel was standing outside his mother’s office. He knew Alexis was there for the day, although DJ had gone back to stay with Claire and Alexis last night, Alexis still had to go into the main offices to sort something out with Claire. When Daniel got to the offices, he heard his mom talking to someone, sounding panicked, her voice raised. He wondered if she had gotten into a dispute with his strong-willed sister. But it didn’t sound like Alexis, it sounded like his mom was scared. His phone started to ring, but helping his mom was more important than whoever was ringing.

Daniel immediately burst through the door, without knocking too see his mom shouting at a blonde woman, standing in front of his desk. She turned around slowly, turning to face Daniel. it was molly.  


 


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty!

Daniel stood there, still in shock. His dead wife was standing in front of him, looking… fine. He briefly wondered whether or not he was in level seven land again, but why was molly here- and was the photo right. He felt as if his head was spinning out of control, especially since his main concern was why was his mom shouting at molly. When Alexis reappeared, she didn’t shout at her, she brought her clothes.  
  
Still, he hadn’t nearly died going into a cult after Alexis’s death, neither, so maybe…  
  
“Daniel, I was just looking for you,” she said, as if she had just gone out grocery shopping and Daniel hadn’t come back for a while, maybe not five years, but… he didn’t really have the words.  
  
“Oh, god. Betty isn’t going to be happy,”  
  
“are you together?” she asked, looking hurt. Daniel was mad, which Daniel later blamed as his excuse. He was so mad, molly put him through hell by faking her death, or whatever she did to suddenly reappear. He had to help fill in her death certificate. And now she turns up as if it was no big deal she had been ‘dead’ for five years. “what happened to Melissa?”  
  
“nothing, I am just screwing Betty behind Melissa’s back,” Daniel repeated, scowling furiously. Claire looked at him with shock on her face, which was only made worse when Betty stepped into the room, Rosa holding onto her hand. Her eyes scanned the room, stopping on molly who was standing in front of Daniel.   
  
“I…erm, I should go!” Betty turned white, retreating back into the elevator. This was the moment of quiet before it all erupted into noise.   
Noise that Daniel didn’t want to hear. So, he ran after Betty, getting into the elevator with Betty and Rosa. Rosa looked terrified and confused, while Betty looked nothing, apart from angrier than he had ever seen her before.  
  
“Betty, please,” he stepped into the elevator just before the door’s closed, leaving Betty standing in shock, loosely clutching Rosa’s hand.  
  
“I’m not mad at you. I am mad at Melissa. She was the one talking to that woman who was supposed to be dead,” tears were already spurting down her face. Daniel didn’t want Betty to cry in front of Rosa, but that seemed to be inevitable, as Rosa looked really scared too.  
  
“did I just see a ghost?” she asked, turning to Daniel.  
  
“no. just a silly person, who pretended to be dead,” Daniel said, picking up Rosa who wound her arms around his neck, burying her head into his shirt.  
  
“I think that is a ghost daddy,” Rosa sighed, while Daniel watched a tear fall down Betty’s face. he so badly wanted to comfort Betty, but based on his outrage, and when Betty finds out that he yelled that at his mother and molly she wouldn’t be very happy, and what he said wouldn’t become necessarily true.   
  
“I don’t think so. Just, a very silly person, you aren’t allowed to do that, hear me?” maybe getting some parenting tips in would be the best way to win Betty over. she was going to be furious at him, more furious than his mother surely was. Rosa giggled at Daniel, kicking as she wanted to be put down.  
  
“daddy, you are silly,” she laughed, moving to Betty and throwing her arms around Betty, wanting to be picked up and held, seeing Betty was upset. It was a good thing Rosa was small for a seven-year-old, since she liked to hug Betty, a lot. definitely something she got from her mother.  
  
“yes, he is. Don’t worry about it, okay. Mummy and daddy will sort it out.” Betty said, picking up Rosa as she squeezed her mom tight, obviously trying to help.  
  
“I really hope so,” Daniel huffed out a breath, looking at his hands. He needed to go back and talk to molly, unlike Melissa she wasn’t trying to leech money, or houses out of him. she was a good person, she was a kindergarten teacher. She probably didn’t try and do this of her own volition, it could have been Connor, as shown in that picture. He would get more answer’s out of talking to molly than examining a picture Alexis took last year anyway. He needed to be mature about this, he needed to go back and speak to molly.  
  
“it will be Daniel,” Betty spoke softly, almost in a whisper. Daniel nodded, smiling at the small woman next to him, who was still holding Rosa. Rosa looked exhausted, and Daniel didn’t blame her. she was used to being in a boarding school, not running around the city after her crazy parents.  
  
“why don’t you go and take Rosa home? I need to talk to molly,” Betty looked unsure, but didn’t say anything. “Betty I need to be an adult about this, I cannot just run away. Anyway, if we want answers, then I am going to get them out of molly far easier than interrogating Melissa over some picture,” he sighed, looking at Betty sadly, Betty still didn’t meet his eye. There was something that he was missing.  
  
“you are right. But, about Rosa-,”  
  
“Betty, remember, we have all parental rights, and I am not going to marry her until she can give me some answer’s so…”   
  
“it won’t work if you are in prison,” Betty muttered, under her breath but still loud enough for Daniel to notice.   
  
“what? Prison, Betty what the hell are you talking about?” Daniel asked, his voice becoming low with warning. Betty knew she couldn’t lie to Daniel, she knew it wasn’t fair, especially since this was involving him much more than her.  
  
“erm… maybe money is being stolen from Meade, again!” Betty said, shrugging her shoulders as best she could with Rosa in her arms.   
“what the hell are you talking about?” Daniel asked, stopping the elevator, reminding Betty much like the situation with Connor. Only, Daniel wouldn’t do anything to hurt her, she knew that, but he seemed pretty concerned.  
  
“your mom found out, and Amanda told me. she and your mom were having a meeting to discuss plans for her new designs… but it is all in your name,” Daniel paled, leaning against the wall of the elevator. Betty didn’t want to discuss this in front of Rosa, however Rosa appeared to be asleep in her arms, with her head resting against her shoulder so Betty figured she was safe.  
  
“what?”  
  
“Daniel, don’t worry, no one believes it was you, I explained how Melissa recently bought a house in her name but using your money, so she knows that it is unlikely to be you, right?” Betty asked, her eyes widening.  
  
“of course, it wouldn’t be me! why would Melissa do something like that? That is so… I gave her everything for two years, she spent £10,000 on one dress, that she wore once!” Betty raised her eyebrows, silently asking why this was a surprise to Daniel. “it just doesn’t make sense, molly showing up, Melissa’s illicit meetings, Connor acting weird and questioning my love life,”  
  
“you didn’t yell at him that you were cheating on Melissa with me, did you?” she asked, adjusting Rosa on her hip, while Daniel sighed, grunting with annoyance at his own stupidity.  
  
“oh, you heard that,”  
  
“it was kind of hard not to. Daniel, I am really mad at you, but I am not going to slap you in front of Rosa, and the problem is far bigger than you broadcasting your love life to your mother and your wife. She is still your wife, I think, considering she is alive?”  
  
“Betty, please, believe me- I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that to you, now everyone is going to be mad at me, or believe that I am a felon.” He leant against the elevator button, spurring it into life again.  
  
“they won’t. I told Amanda it was Melissa. She has access to your funds, and keeps talking about adopting Rosa. Because even if you were arrested you wouldn’t be able to look after Rosa, and you guys were supposed to be getting married soon.”  
  
“wait, where does molly come in?” Daniel looked confused, which was understandable, Betty was having difficulty determining which way was up right that second.  
  
“go and find out. I am going to be at home, Alexis is with DJ, and Rosa needs to go to sleep, she barely got any last night, I could hear her running around. Jane might be able to help calm me down, and I am going to ring Alexis… okay?” Betty asked, nodding at Daniel. he leant over to kiss her on the lips, before the elevator doors opened in the foyer and Betty shakily got out, and into a town car. This was going to be a long day.   
  
Daniel went back up to the office, hoping his mom hadn’t killed molly and that they were both there. At least he knew about the missing money now. although, it seemed ridiculous for that to happen twice, to the same company and framing him both times. At least Betty wasn’t involved this time. well, not directly linked, but Rosa would be without a father if he went to prison, and as selfish as it was he didn’t want Betty to meet anyone else. He had been trying to break up with Melissa for months, she just made that exceptionally difficult.   
  
His mother and molly were both there, while he was pleased his mom hadn’t gone off the deep end at molly, he wasn’t sure he was particularly pleased to see molly either. She had put him through hell when she died.   
  
“so, I want to know what the hell is going on,” Daniel said, sitting down in a chair, and crossing his arms over his chest. Molly looked completely miserable, tears dribbling down her face, but Daniel knew he had to get some answers before it all kicked off and he was incarcerated for something Melissa did.  
  
“please don’t be mad, Daniel. I didn’t chose to do this,”  
  
“so, you don’t have a twin sister?” he asked, raising his eyebrows.   
  
“no, but I can explain-,”   
  
“I am sure we would all love to hear this,” Claire too sat behind her desk, frowning at molly, who looked as if she was about to crack under the combined scrutiny of Daniel and Claire. Daniel didn’t want to be hard on molly, but he needed to get to the bottom of this. it wasn’t simply a matter of him wanting to be with the love of his life, although that was a good motivator. instead it would be whether or not he would still be around to watch his daughter grow up, because not everyone was fortunate enough to screw a senator’s daughter and shorten their sentence.   
“and not just your bit. I want to know what is going on, all of it, with Connor and Melissa. I found out about the accounts mom,” Daniel watched as his mother put her hand to her mouth, looking scared.  
  
“I was blackmailed by Connor. He knows my family, my friends. Also, he persuaded me to get the treatment. I was a little mad at you, because you didn’t fight me on it,”  
  
“I was respecting your wishes, you said you didn’t want the treatment, because of the side effects and-,” Daniel argued, however was stopped by the unusually icy glare from his mother.   
  
“this isn’t the time to argue about it, someone else could find out about the accounts and easily go straight to the police. Daniel I need you to be there for my granddaughter.” molly’s eyes widened when Claire said that, unknowing of all the drama and excitement involving Rosa’s rediscovery and return into Daniel and Betty’s life. Rosa who had only recently had her cast taken off. Quicker than when he broke his leg.  
  
“molly, we don’t have any time to explain, so please just tell me what is going on?” Daniel tried to evoke a sense of emergency in his voice, while molly nodded sadly.   
  
“he threatened my family, they didn’t know he stole all the money, so when I got together with you and he vanished I knew what was going on,” molly still continued, even when Daniel’s expression read one of betrayal. “he said I needed to be with you until I would ‘die’ because Connor knew that taking money away from you wasn’t enough, he had to take everything away. And he knew it was either Rosa or Betty which would completely destroy you. I didn’t feel as if I had any choice, I am so sorry Daniel,” she said, looking as if she couldn’t cry. Even though he felt completely betrayed by molly it didn’t stop himself from feeling sorry for her. even though he felt as if he had the rough end of the stick, with having to cope with the loss of his wife.  
  
Now he wasn’t so sure, everyone apart from the man who was blackmailing her thought she was dead, her parents thought she was dead, her friends… Daniel just had to figure out what Connor was planning to do.  
  
“what is going to happen next?”  
  
“Connor found this model, Melissa. She used to know him, she went to Harvard too. Connor said that she was younger than you when you went, though… but her family knew Connor from when she was there.”  
  
“so, Melissa has been in on this longer than I have known her,”  
  
“yeah… but it was never about the money, that is just Melissa. She dated Connor briefly, but they stayed friends,” Daniel was a little surprised molly was telling him this so readily. He was expecting a little fight, even if he wouldn’t believe her excuses. He didn’t want to say at the time but there were some times he thought molly was perfectly fine, such as when she bounded ahead of him when they went for hikes, or when she was still doing her job even when she was really ‘sick’. Seeing Daniel wasn’t going to respond molly continued, “erm, Connor knew about Rosa from Wilhelmina, anyway, he knew that Betty had also run off to London, and my death was the first attempt to really break you down,”  
  
“so, he just wants to repetitively torture me?” Daniel asked in an irritated tone. Molly nodded.  
  
“I guess so. I didn’t have any idea’s how to stop him, because it did come back Daniel. just Connor got me to take the treatment and it worked. He thought my death would be enough, but you slept with Betty in the Bahamas,”  
  
“where is getting this stuff?” Daniel asked, wondering where all the truthful information had come from, especially since Connor was supposed to be dead then too. Even though he was in the Bahamas too.  
  
“Daniel, what is going on between you and Betty? I thought you denied it since Rosa,”   
  
“mom! Please?” Daniel started to whine at his mother, but she simply raised her eyebrows and gestured back to molly.  
  
“I don’t know, but he knew. He also knew of Melissa, while you were in France doing the charity, something which I am so grateful for Daniel, thank you so much,” she smiled weakly at him, while Daniel nodded, still stunned. “he found Melissa, who was looking for money, since her dad got arrested for embezzling. Connor was looking for someone who could sweep you off your feet, and get access to your bank account.”  
  
“to do what?” Daniel didn’t know if this was the whole truth, but he was making sure he was getting some information, this might help his case. He already was certain that Melissa was the one transferring the money, since she was the only other one who had access to his accounts, but he didn’t have any other evidence. He needed to hear what molly had to say.  
  
“he wanted to frame you, not steal money. That is why it isn’t a lot, then Melissa would have custody of Rosa, since you would be in jail.”  
  
“what? So, this was about taking Rosa away from me?” Daniel spluttered, looking towards his mother who looked equally as confused, and terrified.  
  
“yes, unfortunately. He wanted to truly hurt you, and it would either be Betty or Rosa. But in case the prison thing didn’t work out, since you were abroad so much, and it was a small amount. Then Melissa would take Rosa further away from Betty, so Betty would hate you,”  
  
“where do you come into this?” Daniel asked, guessing the part of Betty hating him because of Melissa. She wasn’t the biggest fan of Melissa, especially when she said things about adopting Rosa, but Daniel didn’t think there would be such a sinister motive behind it. still, he didn’t understand molly’s role in this, especially when Connor had Wilhelmina, who he was married to.  
  
Daniel was pleased that molly was alive, he didn’t want her to be dead. But it complicated things so much more, especially with the plan orchestrated by Melissa and how Betty would feel about molly’s return. Especially when molly looked so guilty.  
  
She tucked her blonde hair behind her ear, something Daniel didn’t know her well enough to realise that it meant she was extremely nervous.  
“Connor wanted me as leverage, an extra backup plan, in case you were onto Melissa. I was supposed to take Betty away from you, and Rosa… since we found out something. Just recently. Melissa doesn’t know. There was a problem with the paperwork, Rosa wasn’t officially adopted.”  
  
“what?” Claire spoke up from the back of the room, Daniel jutted his face forward into his palm, he hadn’t told his mother that part… which he now was regretting not doing so.  
  
“mom. We still have all parental rights over Rosa. It is true, Betty doesn’t know what to do yet, but Melissa cannot get to her,” Claire breathed out a sigh of relief, however it was clear something else was weighing on the room. something unsaid. “wait, why are you here then? You have just admitted your part of the plan, to make Betty back off. Why do people keep doing this?” Daniel asked, frustrated and hurt.  
  
“I don’t know Daniel, but molly, if this is so important to you, conforming to Connor’s blackmails then why are you here? You have just admitted the plan, and as much as Daniel loved you-,”  
  
“mom, molly wasn’t doing this out of spite like Connor was, and I can understand why she was mad at me for not pushing the treatments, although I wanted to be respectful. But why are you telling me this?”  
  
“I was…” she blinked slowly, guiltily “I was here to do what Connor asked. He did threaten my family, and I don’t want that to happen. But, I didn’t realise you had found Rosa. I didn’t think that was going to happen, I don’t want to ruin a child’s life because Connor still has a grudge,” she sighed.  
  
“I thought it was about you, the whole ‘you stole from me, so I am going to steal from you’ thing,” Daniel asked, although he didn’t see women as property, something to be stolen- except maybe Betty, because he felt awful even at the thought of another man looking at Betty.  
  
“it wasn’t just that. It was the payback from your Harvard days, Daniel apparently stole some of his girlfriends,” molly looked at Claire, who rolled her eyes, glaring at Daniel.  
  
“unfortunately, that does sound like my son.” Claire sighed, looking at the now sheepish Daniel.  
  
“yeah, enough with that. Molly, what do you want me to do about this? can you help? because at the moment Melissa is buying a house using my money; but in her name, I might go to jail, and Betty is going to be mad at me if I try and make up a plan to divert Connor or whatever.” Daniel put his head in his hands. he hated when Betty was disappointed in him, it was as if the sun didn’t exist on earth any more, it wasn’t right. He couldn’t let that happen, especially as he wasn’t on the best ground with Betty anyway. He did think his mature decision to face the music instead of running was wise though, and maybe it made her slightly forgive him for blurting out about their love making sessions.   
  
“I don’t know what I can do, I was hoping you guys would have something, since you were onto Melissa.”  
  
“all I saw was a questionable picture Alexis took. It was nothing else apart from that, until I heard about the accounts from Betty, she knows more than I do.” He shrugged, sighing. He knew Betty was investigating and not telling him things, especially since she knew about Rosa not being adopted officially before he even had the chance to investigate.  
  
“why don’t you talk to her? she might have some ideas.” molly asked, somewhat nervously.  
  
“Daniel, I know what we need to do. Your biggest problem is the chance of being incarcerated, it isn’t fun. Trust me, I know. But, you need to make her confess, do whatever you have to, since she is the one that has done something wrong. They could trace it back to her, but it is unlikely. She doesn’t have a motive, or as much opportunity that they know of. Heaven knows, the girl might have feelings for you, so I wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss her as heartless.” Claire said, now standing up behind her desk, before coming over to stand next to Daniel. he looked miserably on, not focusing on his mother as such as just the air in front of his face.  
  
“then why is she with me? it is clear she did this for Connor,”  
  
“I don’t know what Connor is offering her, or blackmailing her, but she seems to have no problem going along with it. and before you ask, he hasn’t slept with her,”  
  
“I don’t care. I just want this nightmare to be over. I need to go and find Betty. Molly, if you want to meet me somewhere whenever you get new information, talk to Alexis. I am going to make sure she knows everything,” Daniel said, storming out of his mother’s office. Claire raised her eyebrows at molly, she too was worried for Betty and everyone else but couldn’t say anything that might incriminate her son. Although Claire had little doubt Betty too, would do anything to keep her child safe.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty.

Daniel go to the front door to Betty’s house in queens, hoping she would have some idea about how to get the truth out of Melissa, since he didn’t know where to begin. Betty was good at talking to people, heck she even got Amanda to like her when it was Amanda, who could get a prize for cattiness.   
  
When he got in there was an explosion of people, it appeared everyone apart from Justin had arrived to the house, with Hilda, bobby and Leah too.  
  
“hey,” Daniel announced as he walked in, smiling at the occupants of the house. Bobby raised his eyebrows at him, while Hilda said something to Ignacio, who was looking very much as if he wished all the noise would go away, so he could have a nap.  
  
“hey, Daniel. Rosa is in the kitchen with Jane. They are making cookies, but Leah wanted to join in so it isn’t exactly the cleanest,” Hilda resumed commanding her father to do something, while Daniel walked into the kitchen, it looked as if Rosa was enjoying having a cousin very much, considering the amount of flour that was on the floor.   
  
“daddy!” Rosa came up to Daniel, hugging him. Daniel was a little taken aback, since Rosa was still a bit nervous of him, especially since she had heard all the tales from his playboy days from her friend. what he didn’t like so much was that she appeared to have raw eggs, or something equally as sticky on her hands. and now on his clothes, which of course were designer.  
  
“hey guys, what have you been making?” he asked, looking at Jane who was smiling broadly at him, then down at Leah, who was three and insisted on helping. He didn’t know whether it was her or Rosa who had made the majority of the mess over the floor.  
  
“we have made some cookies, daddy. This one is a Christmas tree,” she held up a cookie that looked surprisingly like a Christmas tree, Rosa must be good at art then, considering it was far better than anything he could create in dough.  
  
“awesome, where is mommy?”  
  
“she’s ill,” he had been in London long enough to recognise that it meant Betty was sick. He panicked, he didn’t know what to do about that, especially since he desperately needed her help.   
  
“okay, I need to go talk to her, those cookies look fantastic,” Daniel said, pointing at the cookies, and reaching for one of them. Jane slapped his hand away.   
  
Daniel ran up the steps to Betty’s room, he knocked but didn’t hear anything so he just went in timidly, he had already seen betty naked, on way more than one occasion. He hoped she wouldn’t mind. Betty was in there, but she was fast asleep, however she did wake up when he walked into the room. Betty blinked her eyes slowly, groaning.  
  
“Betty, are you okay?” he rushed over to her side. she tried to sit up, clutching her stomach as she did so. Betty didn’t say anything, instead looked miserably at Daniel.  
  
“I got sick on the subway, I just went up here because I didn’t want to get anyone else sick,” Betty said, she had changed into her pyjamas, smiling weakly at Daniel. Daniel looked down at her, moving her mussed hair away from her face. he desperately wanted to tell Betty what was going on with Melissa and Connor’s plans. His own mind was still reeling, maybe talking to Betty would help make sense of that?  
  
“poor you, how long have you been feeling ‘ill as Rosa called it?”   
  
“a few days,” Betty sighed, fidgeting slightly under the covers. Daniel felt her forehead, worried about Betty. He was feeling as if he had just stepped into a different dimension. Rosa was here with them, molly didn’t die because moments before she had been right in front of him. everything was upside down. he felt Betty’s forehead gently, noting how she frowned slightly.   
  
“huh, your forehead isn’t warm. Betty, why didn’t you say something before? I would have helped, you know this,”  
  
“yeah. I do Daniel, but I thought it would just blow over. I didn’t expect to still feel rubbish,” she sighed, while Daniel crawled into her bed beside her, gently holding Betty close. She would need some comfort for what he was about to tell her. “I actually feel a bit better, I felt awful, but I seem to be okay now?”  
  
“are you sure, you don’t look sick, you look all… glowy.”   
  
“thanks Daniel,” Betty scrunched up her nose, gently tapping him on the shoulder. “how did it go with molly?” ah, the question everyone had avoided.  
  
“I have some really big things to tell you, but I want to make sure you aren’t going to freak out,”  
  
“is it about what molly said?” Betty asked, looking towards Daniel who was still cradling her. all the way home, while she was feeling as if she was going to faint any second she was wondering what molly had said. How bad was the conspiracy? She had been investigating, but only the stuff linked to Rosa’s adoption.  Betty hadn’t had many opportunities to speak to Alexis, so she hadn’t found out much from Melissa. Until today. Today had blown everything wide open for Betty, for Daniel, for Rosa.  
  
“yep. It isn’t just Melissa. She has been meeting with Connor.” Betty didn’t say anything, knowing how important it was to Daniel to get this off of his chest. She knew that he needed to tell her, because this kind of thing ate you up inside.  
  
“okay, how does she know Connor?” Betty asked, after a minute of silence where she guessed Daniel wanted her to say something.  
  
“through her family, who I now know aren’t from France by the way. She went to Harvard too, but I don’t know why she is doing this. it is all part of Connor’s ‘let’s ruin Daniel’s life’ plan. Apparently not just because of molly, but because of whatever I did in Harvard. I was an ass. Everyone knows that!” Daniel said, watching Betty bite her lip, looking thoughtful.   
  
“what is the ‘ruin Daniel’s life plan’?” Betty asked, blinking up at Daniel.  
  
“Connor figured out that taking money from me wasn’t enough, he knew to hurt me he would have to take you or Rosa.”  
  
“what do you mean, take us?” Betty asked, looking confused, although having to butt into the conversation.  
  
“like either get Melissa to take away Rosa, since I would be in prison over the whole embezzlement thing, or she annoys you to the point where you go away and take Rosa from me… or whatever. Apparently, Melissa knows we are onto her, so he was going to use molly to distance you and Rosa from me, make you jealous or something.”  
  
“molly told you this, when she was in on it?” Betty asked, wondering what was going on with molly. Even though she loved Daniel, and she had no doubt about Daniel felt about her, even though he wouldn’t dump the stupid Melissa- although when she first asked him, the threat of prison wasn’t hanging over his head.  
  
“yeah, she was going to lie when she first got into my mom’s office, but then she saw you had found Rosa, she didn’t want to endanger a child. She didn’t think we were going to get her back, not realistically.” Betty made a face. she didn’t like to think of a future, one where they hadn’t found Rosa. She would do whatever it took to protect Rosa, it was just a natural instinct.  
  
“how can you be sure she isn’t lying, still?”  
  
“I can’t. she was being blackmailed. Connor made her take the treatment, it worked, but everyone thought she was dead when she ‘died’. So, she couldn’t speak to anyone for five years, imagine how hard it has been for her?”  
  
“how hard it has been for her?” Betty sounded indignant, over him. he knew what he had been through too, but it wasn’t like blackmail. At least his mother thought he was alive, and Betty too. He couldn’t imagine a world where Betty thought he was gone. “you scattered her ashes, you nearly died in a cult, one which I and a merry band of your ex, my ex and your mother had to rescue you from,” Betty waved her arms around to emphasise her point. Daniel felt like chuckling, even though he felt as if he was breaking apart.   
  
There was one very big thing that Betty hadn’t discussed, or even questioned. His love for molly, Betty knew that it was hard to stop loving someone, especially when you were supposed to honour their memory. Betty was terrified, that he would let her go because his wife, that he was still married to.  
  
“Betty, sweetie calm down. I am going to sort it. I left molly to talk to my mom. She looked sincere, I don’t know what to say since I was pretty hard on her, now she is talking to my mom. Who, was pretty angry, the same level of anger with Wilhelmina.”  
  
“I guess that makes sense, a mother would do anything to protect her child.” Betty looked sorrowful for a minute “but I don’t want molly to be shouted at, it wasn’t her fault. She was blackmailed, and alive… which is a good thing. I am mad at Melissa. She might have just been doing this for personal benefit,” Betty sighed, resting her head back against the headboard of the bed.  
  
“I am sorry. I need to talk to her. she already knows we know,”  
  
“she doesn’t know we have been screwing!” Betty sounded exasperated, annoyed. She was scared though, she wasn’t always comfortable around Melissa. She had definitely been hiding something, something which had just come back out into the open.  
  
Daniel looked uncomfortable, then assumed an expression of hurt. “is that all it has been for you?”  
  
“no, Daniel, I-,” Betty looked back at him “I didn’t mean it like that. At first, I didn’t know what I was doing. I was just really happy to find Rosa, the one thing that made me feel like I couldn’t be with you because it wouldn’t be fair to her. then she came back, and we were all so happy. I thought it would just be another one of our one-nighters,”  
  
“do you regret it not being?” Daniel looked as if he was going to get off the bed, but Betty gripped onto his arm so he remained seated.   
  
“no, I just feel bad about being the one you were cheating with. Because I didn’t know everything about her, so I felt really bad… because it feels so right,” Betty admitted, drawing her knees up to her chest.  
  
“it does, doesn’t it. I’m not going back to molly, in case you were wondering,” he said, rubbing her arm and kissing her cheek.  
  
“I hadn’t actually considered it. she lied to me for five years, I still love her. but, I can’t think about it. I thought she was dead, I can’t just reverse that in my mind. half the time I thought I was in level seven land again.” he sighed, in between kisses which worked their way down Betty’s neck. She sighed, when he hit a certain spot on her neck, turning around to kiss him on the lips.   
  
“Daniel, as much as… mm, we can’t do this here,” Betty said, moaning softly. Daniel chuckled.   
  
“I know, there are children downstairs, and you have just been sick. I just wanted a little kiss. I do love you Betty, take that as you will,”  
  
“I love you too. We need to sort this out, and as much as I would like to sort it out this way, I don’t think I can, not completely. You need to talk to Melissa, get the stuff about the embezzlements dropped, okay?” Betty kissed Daniel again, as he wrapped his arms around her waist.   
  
“how are we going to do that, she knows we have Rosa and is still willing to do this. also, molly said she doesn’t even know why Melissa is doing this for Connor. Molly was blackmailed, Connor hates me, but I don’t see the motivation.”  
  
“you need to ask her. we have all the proof, and a confession from molly. I got a new phone, and Alexis will be sending me the picture soon… so, why don’t we go back to London?”  
  
“isn’t Rosa a US citizen? We need her to be here to move around any rights or whatever, also it hasn’t been examined in a court of law yet. I think we might need to have Melissa come over here, instead?” Daniel suggested, clutching Betty closer to him, while he continued to kiss her and his hands started to wander.  
  
“Daniel… c’mon, we need t… too, uh concentrate,” Betty said, however she found herself being unable to resist. She knew Daniel had found other ways to distract himself, however he still used sex to try and solve some of his problems. But, Betty knew that it wouldn’t solve what was currently going on, instead it would make it all the more complicated.  
  
“mmm, maybe… in a minute,” he continued with his kissing and his light groping, as he kept kissing down Betty’s neck. He suddenly stopped his ministrations “huh,”  
  
“what?” Betty asked, somewhat annoyed that he had stopped.  
  
“they are bigger,” he kissed her again, leaving Betty to frown at what he was saying.  
  
“what are you talking about?”  
  
“your boobs,” he kissed her again, before stopping, looking into the pools of deep brown that were Betty’s eyes. “Betty, I am going to call Melissa. Maybe she will admit something over the phone, there has got to be a shred of decency to make her realise that she could be endangering a child, if Rosa gets caught up in all of this. I know my life is already been through the press and whatever else… but I don’t want that to happen to Rosa,” Daniel said. Betty got off the bed, rubbing her hair back.  
  
“Daniel, you need to call her-now! she was worried, earlier because you hadn’t picked up. So, you need to call her and you need to come downstairs only after you do that,” she kissed him gently, however she was definitely being ‘bossy Betty’. Betty still felt a bit panicked by Daniel’s left-field comments.  
  
“okay,” she stormed downstairs, feeling the pure happiness of motherhood, when she saw Rosa’s eyes light up when she walked into the room.  
  
“wow, what have you been doing here?” Betty asked, seeing an equally sticky Leah run up to her and start squealing to be picked up. Betty picked the three-year-old up, toying with her fat fists, which were covered in green icing.  
  
“we have been making biscuits, mummy,” Rosa pointed to the Christmas cookies on the counter, which were surprisingly good.   
  
“wow, these look amazing. Can I have one?” Betty hovered her hand over the plate while Jane nodded and laughed.  
  
“what happened to being poorly? You do look okay though, so go ahead,”  
  
“it is okay? I am starving now anyway. Daniel is up there calling Melissa. Did you help make cookies?” Betty looked at Leah who smiled and laughed as her response.  
  
“do they taste good? Jane won’t let me have one!” Rosa protested.  
  
“yes, they do! Why can’t you have one?” Betty asked Jane. She smiled, looking between Betty, Leah and Rosa.  
  
“they are for after dinner. Since I don’t know whether or not we are going to be here for the holidays, I thought we could make some biscuits now,” Jane smiled slightly at Betty.  
  
“Jane, can I speak about that?” Betty asked, putting Leah down, who toddled off to Hilda, and shooing Rosa out of the room.  
  
“I have heard back from the lawyer. I dropped the papers off, he told me outright that it was void. Rosa is still your daughter, you have all parental rights… okay?”   
  
“I wanted to talk about where Rosa is going to live. I know what is going on with Melissa now, and it isn’t good. I don’t want Rosa to be involved, but if she is I need her to be with me,”  
  
“Betty, you need to tell me what is going on.” Jane said, firmly but calmly.    
  
“okay… Connor, the guy who stole all the money from Meade, and Daniel’s late, still alive wife’s ex-fiancée,” Jane raised an eyebrow. “is blackmailing molly, she is still alive. She got the treatment and didn’t die. I don’t know why Melissa is doing this.”  
  
Janes tone came out as panicked, scared “doing what?”  
  
“trying to take me or Rosa away from Daniel. Melissa has been embezzling, using access from Daniel’s accounts to frame him, so he will go to jail, and Melissa would get custody of Rosa. They didn’t know about you, or the problem with the paperwork… but, there are several different schemes and we have to make sure Daniel doesn’t go to prison,” Betty dissolved into tears, as Jane hugged her close. Betty had just heard the tale, still coming to terms and trying to process it.   
  
She didn’t know what was going to happen to Rosa. She wanted to stay in New York, with her daughter. She wanted Daniel to be not incarcerated, for the whole horrible mess to go away. But, it wouldn’t work like that. She didn’t know whether or not Rosa would be allowed, or even want to stay in the states with her. Rosa had spent the whole time in the UK, this was the first time in living memory she had gone on a proper vacation. She didn’t want to tear Jane away from Rosa, because that was the person who had been a constant in her short life.  
  
She didn’t know what was to come of Daniel, but she guessed it would be over here too, especially if he went to jail. Betty didn’t need to be in London any more, she had quit her job. She would go back for Christina’s wedding, of course, but her family wasn’t there. She had brought most of her things with her now.   
  
“that isn’t going to happen. You are her mother, and as of yesterday, Rosa no longer goes to the school,” Jane said, trying to look reassuring, while Betty’s eyes practically bugged out from her head.  
  
“what?” she squeaked.   
  
“Rosa is a US citizen, I actually come from this part of the neighbourhood. my niece actually lives two streets over, so, I am coming back with Rosa,”   
  
“isn’t this a bit fast?” Betty asked, looking confused. She was thrilled, but she felt as if this was all a bit fast. Betty just hoped Jane wasn’t hiding something from her.  
  
“I was actually planning to retire, a few months’ past. It is hard work, I wanted to live near my family. I haven’t seen anyone in eight years, since I was the one looking after Rosa. I didn’t know about the parental rights, but I knew that you used to live here, well I hoped that it was correct. I was going to come here, hopefully reunite her. I didn’t ever put up the pretence of being her parent, since I was matron Jane. I didn’t want her to know, since I didn’t want her to find out her parents had been killed in a car crash,”  
  
“how did she find out that she was adopted?”  
  
“when her parents didn’t come home to pick her up for the holidays. I took her places, even to wales once for a camping holiday. Everyone else knew, but I didn’t want her to find out the truth. A seven-year-old shouldn’t have that kind of burden. I was going to take her here, look for you guys. I was going to, of course find out what you were like first. I promised to look after her, I wasn’t just going to hand her off to two strangers.”  
  
Betty was surprised that Jane was going to do that. She always thought the way she met Rosa was pure luck, a coincidence, however it could have been months later, when she was back home instead. If Hilda or Ignacio got news that Rosa was anywhere near, they would throw a party and get someone to drag her back to New York. she couldn’t believe Jane was kind enough to do this, to protect Rosa. She could be honest with Jane.  
  
“another thing I had been worried about was how Rosa was going to cope being away from you, but it looks as if she won’t be,” Betty grinned, hugging Jane again.   
  
“yes, I didn’t tell you because you have enough going on- but it doesn’t take six weeks to get extra time off, especially if you are the child’s guardian. She has officially left, in her luggage there is all her possessions.”  
  
“what?”  
  
“yes, Betty. She is staying here, and so am I. I didn’t come to England with much, so most of it is in my suitcase. I am staying here, with Rosa. I know you might need to ship everything over, or go back… but we are staying here,” Jane was cut off by another hug from Betty, who was beaming.   
  
“thank you so much Jane, does Rosa know?” Betty asked, still smiling.  
  
“not yet, why don’t you go and tell her?” Jane suggested, while Betty nodded, running into the living room. Rosa was sitting on the couch, watching fashion TV when Justin burst through the door.   
  
“Rosa,” Betty sat down next to Rosa, smiling at her daughter and Justin who joined them on the sofa.  
  
“ooh, fashion TV… someone has good taste, thank god she got that from Daniel,” Justin raised his eyebrows, winding his Gucci scarf off his head. Betty smacked him slightly on the arm, putting one arm around Rosa to hug her.  
  
“thank you for that. Anyway, mommy has some news, Rosa,” Betty smiled at Rosa, who looked up at her.  
  
“is it good? are we going to the fashion show tomorrow with cousin Justin?” she asked, looking between Betty and the television.  
  
“we can if you want, but this is very big news. You know how your family lives here,”  
  
“you and daddy live in London,” Rosa looked pensive.  
  
“well, me, daddy, and Jane are all going to live here now, in New York. with you,” Betty waited for Rosa’s reaction, although she didn’t know whether or not Daniel actually planned to move back, despite Alexis officially brining someone in to deal with the situation at MODE UK.  
  
“what? Here?!” Betty didn’t know how Rosa felt since Rosa didn’t say anything.  
  
“yes, is that okay?” Betty seemed nervous now. what if Rosa didn’t want this? what if she didn’t want to be there with them.  
  
Suddenly Rosa smiled, flinging her arms around her mom, “yes, yes, mummy! I want to live here with you and grandpa and cousin Justin!” she giggled, climbing on top of Betty’s shoulder.  
  
“awesome! You do know Maddie is going to live in New York with her daddy?”   
  
“what? And I will have Maddie here too? Can she come to MODE to help me do designs too?” she asked, Rosa had spent most of the time while Betty was talking to Amanda in the secret(not)sex-room/nursery talking to Helen and drawing up designs. Amanda had promised to give her credit for it.  
  
“yes, her daddy is coming to live her. I said he should take her with him,”  
  
“awesome, so I will have my two best friends, and my mummy and my daddy,” she grinned excitedly bouncing on the sofa, before landing on Betty’s lap when she stumbled.  
  
“who is your other best friend?” Betty asked, cuddling Rosa.  
  
“Jane, she took me on loads of holidays. She took me to see the London eye. I wish I knew you were my mom then?” Rosa asked, smiling eagerly, Betty cradled Rosa close, waiting for Daniel to come down the stairs.   
  
Eventually he did come down, looking drawn and miserable. He sat next to Betty and Rosa on the couch, since Justin had gone off to get some of the food. Betty assumed he was probably ‘splurging’ by nibbling the corner of one of Rosa’s cookies. Betty wished he wouldn’t diet, but he had the influence of marc so Betty knew it was a lost cause.  
  
“how did the talk go? Did she deny everything?” Betty asked, curling up by Daniel’s side. he sighed, putting his head in his hands.   
  
“she did try, but I told her I already knew what was going on… she is coming here though.” Daniel looked at Betty with shame in his eyes, Betty knew it wasn’t his fault, he couldn’t help it if Melissa wanted to invade their lives. She just needed to get the truth from Melissa. And not let her go near Rosa.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty.

Daniel finished telling Betty about Melissa, and while Betty felt bad that Daniel took the blame for letting her come to New York, there was still a part of Betty that wished he hadn’t let her take the open invitation.  
  
“Daniel, look at me. it isn’t your fault. She seemed genuine, and you have never been one to really tell when someone is stringing you along,”  
  
“thanks,”  
  
“no, I just meant-,” but Daniel was laughing. He clutched Betty’s hand, holding it in front of him, before gently kissing the back of it. luckily Rosa was too engrossed in the movie to notice.  
  
“I know what you meant. I was just messing with you… anyway, I was thinking that maybe we could go out tonight?” he seemed nervous, biting his lips, looking under his eyelashes at Betty. Betty was still stunned by the blue hue of his eyes, knowing why she always gave into Daniel’s ministrations.  
  
“you mean with Rosa, like-?”  
  
“no, I meant us… together, like a…”  
  
“date? You want to take me on a date?” Betty asked, smiling at Daniel. although they had been… together for a few weeks because of Melissa, and Betty dashing off to discuss the latest thing about Rosa she hadn’t had the time to even ask Daniel if he wanted to go out.  
  
“yeah, if you don’t mind. there was this little restaurant that I wanted to take you to for your birthday, but I didn’t get time since you moved to London,”  
  
“I hope it is still there, four years is a long time,” Betty said, smiling at Daniel. he leaned over, kissing her briefly on the lips, since Rosa was still sitting on Betty’s lap. Suddenly Hilda came into the room, looking unimpressed.  
  
“you know Melissa ain’t going to be happy about that, don’t you, chica?”  
  
“yes, Hilda.” Betty sighed, looking at the television which Rosa hadn’t taken her eyes off of. Probably because they were talking about designers.  
  
“you know she might find out when Daniel is in your bed when she wakes up in the morning.” Hilda said wisely.   
  
“yeah, I think Daniel might stay on the couch tonight.” Daniel sighed, looking between Betty and Hilda, then back to Rosa.  
  
“Rosa, what are you watching there?” he asked, leaving both Hilda and Betty to watch him.   
  
“it is saying about the new designers,” she pointed at the television, where Suzuki was being rude about someone who sounded like… heinrich?   
  
“oh, it is him! I did a press release for him when I was in MODE. He is really cool, very tragic. Why don’t you tell daddy about your drawings?” Betty suggested, however Rosa hid slightly, hugging Betty.  
  
“I don’t want to,” Betty knew Rosa was shy about her dream to become a fashion designer. “daddy will think it is silly,” Rosa pouted.  
  
“come on, daddy won’t think it is silly. Daddy worked in fashion too, and if daddy says anything bad he is silly, okay?” Daniel chuckled, knowing that Rosa could tell him she wanted to be a con artist and he would still love her.  
  
“okay… let’s hear. I have some pretty silly ideas, but I think yours will be wonderful,” Daniel said, smiling shyly at Rosa. She wriggled off her mother’s lap, running towards Betty’s bag where Betty had put the drawings. She ran back to Daniel, holding the drawings aloft. She had stuck loads of scraps of material onto it as well.  
  
“wow, look at that. That looks amazing. Do you want to be a fashion designer Rosa?” Daniel asked, and Rosa nodded happily.  
  


He felt happy in that moment, he had his family all together, and although things may start to be falling down, he had Rosa and Betty and was going to make the most of it.

  
Betty stopped outside the small restaurant which Daniel had wanted to take Betty for her 26th birthday. However, he hadn’t had the chance of taking her to the once new Thai place, since he knew that was one of Betty’s favourite takeout places. He had gone out for a little bit, taking advantage of the MODE closet once again, before turning up at Betty’s door with Gerber daisies, just how he had always imagined a date would go.   
  
She stepped out, in a black dress that Daniel could have never imagined Betty wearing, probably because it would have gotten him in quite a lot of trouble with Melissa.  
  
“wow, Betty.” Daniel hissed softly, smiling at the beautiful woman in front of him, Betty blushed, sweeping back her hair, specially straightened by Hilda. It was hard to believe she had been feeling unwell the day before. Daniel couldn’t have loved anyone more, especially since he was making the most of the time he had before Melissa arrived the next day.  
  
“thank you,” she wobbled slightly round to Daniel’s side, hugging his arm as they got into the town car. Daniel resisted the urge to laugh at the high heels Betty was wearing.  
  
“Betty, why are you wearing such high heels?” Daniel asked, smiling slightly at Betty.  
  
“Amanda captured me, she came by earlier, since she somehow managed to hear that I have a date,” Betty smiled, kissing Daniel gently before he had a chance to respond. He did notice there was a lack of Amanda’s presence in the MODE closet when he was getting clothes for his and Betty’s date. He forgot to bring some really nice suits for this special occasion.  
  
“oh, well you do look like you have been Amanda’d,”   
  
“what? Amanda’d?”  
  
“yeah, captured and put to test her excellent styling abilities,” Daniel smirked slightly at Betty, who pursed her lips, lightly smacking him on the arm.  
  
“you don’t want to tell Tyler that, he is jealous enough of you as it is,” Betty sighed, looking at her hand entwined with Daniel’s.  
  
“yeah because complimenting Amanda’s styling abilities on my own girlfriend is emasculating.” Daniel shrugged, smiling at Betty.   
  
“I’m your girlfriend?” she didn’t sound mad, instead intrigued.  
  
“well, yeah. I hope so, once I am no longer engaged to the witch who lives in the secret volcano,” Daniel grumbled, Betty rolled her eyes.  
  
“she doesn’t live in a volcano, she lives in the house she bought with your money,”  
  
“uh, please don’t remind me?” Daniel put his head in his hands, then turned to Betty, drawing in a deep breath. “no more talk about Melissa, she is going to arrive tomorrow and make everyone miserable. So, let’s just enjoy our date, huh? I can think of one very enjoyable thing to do,” Daniel leant across the backseat of the town car, his hands sliding around Betty’s waist as he brought her into kiss him.  
  
Betty didn’t tell him how she had spent all morning puking, then panicking about Melissa’s arrival but not wanting to wake Daniel, so she went and drank ginger ale and ate saltines at five in the morning with Rosa. She didn’t want Daniel to worry, since he could potentially have a much worse deal than her. she got to spend time with her daughter. Daniel had even got the no longer as bitchy Melissa to bring Betty’s luggage, although Betty wouldn’t be surprised if it all turned up shredded, or in flames.  
  
They got to the restaurant, the time spent on the journey was also spent making out. Betty smiled at Daniel, getting out in front of the restaurant. Last time she had been in New York, she had wanted to eat at the place, however didn’t have the time or the excuse.  
  
“wow, thank you Daniel. I have wanted to visit this place for ages,” she hugged Daniel tightly, looking at the exterior, a far cry from the polished exteriors of Daniel’s old haunts, apart from when he was getting blind drunk because he hadn’t won. Then he usually ended up in Betty’s bed, and not always in that way.  
  
“I know, it is perfect, huh?” the exterior was guilt, and when they went in there were plants growing out of intricately designed pots by the window sill. Betty smiled, she was so excited for the food, even though she wasn’t well this morning she was starving now.  
They were seated by the server, Betty deliberating over the menu, while Daniel laughed at her indecisiveness. It felt like their friendship, but with something more. the window was open. That could happen.   
  
Daniel had assured Betty that there was no way he was taking Melissa back, even if she was being blackmailed too. He hadn’t heard from molly since the first day, although his mother informed him that she was paying for a fancy hotel room, under an alias, to make sure Connor couldn’t speak to molly if he tried. Daniel hadn’t heard how molly felt about that either. But, he couldn’t imagine going back to Melissa, especially since she had made things difficult. Let Connor use Betty and Rosa as a pawn in his sick little game. No one was going to do that to his child if he could help it.  
  
“so, Betty. I had an idea for the remainder of the evening,” Betty tilted her head slightly.  
  
“can we go dancing?” she grinned, showing off her perfect smile. The perfect smile that didn’t stop Daniel’s heart beating a mile a minute when he saw it.  
  
“of course, whatever you want. But, I had a thought; we have never really done the whole dating thing,”  
  
“what do you mean? you took me out loads when I was pregnant. And our first night we had a date?” Betty twirled some noodles around on her fork, before stuffing it into her mouth.  
  
“that first one ended with you getting pregnant, and the others ended with us eating ice cream in bed, and most of the time you were too tired. I meant proper dating, like people would if they first met, and fell in love,”  
  
Betty grinned “in case you haven’t noticed, we aren’t like most people. You are Daniel Meade, and we have a seven-year-old daughter together,” Betty sighed. She didn’t regret Rosa, she loved Rosa more than she though it was possible.  
  
“I know, but you deserve to be romanced, you deserved to be wined and dined, not go have hot secret sex because my fiancée is a nutter who is conspiring with my ex-late wife who is actually alive. I don’t know what to call this situation, but Connor is still hung up on something I did when I was in college and marginally more of a jerk than I am now,”  
  
“Daniel, stop the rant. I would like wining and dining, but you don’t have to go overboard. When it is just us, why don’t we forget you being a jerk when you were twenty and Melissa… and whatever else.”  
  
“okay,” he reached over to shake Betty’s hand, “deal,”   
  
  
They stood outside the club, the short stroll to it through the romantically lit streets of New York had made Betty not really want to go dancing, instead sit with her feet up and watch fashion TV with Rosa, since her ankles were swollen and she wasn’t feeling good again. for once Daniel was more enthusiastic about dancing than she was. Betty still tried to put on a brave face, she had enjoyed the rest of her date immensely so, but now she just felt fat and tired.  
  
“hey, Betty, are you okay?” before they walked into the small club dimly lit where multiple attractive couples were walking into it, smiling happily as they hung off each other’s arms.  
  
“erm. I am feeling a bit tired,” Betty sighed, resisting the temptation to lean against Daniel and fall asleep in the middle of the street.  
  
“hmm, do you want to go dancing? We could go another night, I just wanted to see if there was anything you wanted to do before Melissa arrives,”   
  
“mmm, go to sleep,” Betty groaned, before she realised what she had said. She quickly blushed, turning towards Daniel and moving forward onto her tiptoes even more to kiss him.  
  
“I thought you were tired, all you have to do is ask Betty. I love you, you know this. you don’t need to stay out all night to prove that. But, did you enjoy dinner?” he asked, smiling at Betty. Betty nodded, kissing Daniel again, missing the feeling of him holding her close. The feeling of his warm breath on her neck as he kissed a million different spots across her face. she did love Daniel, she just hoped they could get past all of this.  
  
Betty encircled his neck with her arms, kissing him gently out on the sidewalk. She smiled brightly afterwards. “do you think we can go get some cheesecake?” she grinned again. Daniel chuckled, just as the town car pulled up beside them.  
  
“you looked as if you were falling asleep on the way here, come on, I know you by now Betty,” he opened the door for her, slightly bowing to make Betty giggle with delight.  
  


“thank you, Daniel, oh, and I love you too,”

  
Melissa arrived the next morning, with a lot less pep and excitement than her arrival in London. instead of coming in with guns blazing, labels piled on top of labels and a $500 haircut, she got out of the cab looking weak and diminished. She was still gorgeous, but she didn’t have the air of bitchiness about her.  
  
She walked up to the front door, holding her own suitcase for a change, although the taxi driver looked more than happy to get his hands on the Prada thing with wheels. Daniel came to the door, expecting the precise time of Melissa’s arrival, since he didn’t want Rosa to accidentally answer the door. She already didn’t like Melissa.  
  
“Daniel!” Melissa tried to throw her arms around Daniel but he backed away, he wanted to hear whatever reasonable excuse she had before he forgave her, or even let her into his house. He did anyway, since it was only him who was awake. Betty was trying to let Ignacio sleep which is why they would have been subjected to Betty’s cooking unless Jane was able to step in and work a miracle in saving the macaroni cheese that nearly caused the kitchen to burst into flames.  
  
“Melissa. I need to talk to you first, okay. I don’t know why you would even do this, it could have endangered a child- you know this! what if Rosa had to see her dad go off to prison, I didn’t cope very well with my dad and I was in my thirties when that happened!” Daniel said, hissing as Melissa still stood outside. They made an agreement, Melissa was going to stay in a hotel, only coming to the Suarez residence first because Daniel wanted to sort everything out first.   
  
“I know, I know! Daniel, please believe me, I am so sorry,”   
  
“well, you better come in,” he stepped aside lifting her suitcase in with him. they got into the kitchen, the rich smell of last night’s mole still hung in the air. Well, what was left that Betty hadn’t eaten at midnight anyway.  
  
“thank you,” she looked around, no snide comments escaping her lips when she saw Betty’s house, even if it hadn’t had the chance for a proper clean up since Ignacio had only just gotten out of the hospital.  
  
“so, are you going to tell me what is going on?” she sat heavily on a chair in the kitchen, Daniel didn’t know what else to say so he raised his eyebrows.  
  
“I want Betty to know, too. This concerns her as well,” Melissa said, however not unkindly. There had been a big change in her attitude since even the last time Daniel spoke to her, even.  
  
“Betty is asleep, I don’t want to wake her up,” betty and he had fallen into bed late the previous night, not even attempting to do anything else that night, since Betty was exhausted. They did watch a movie on his i-pad however Betty had fallen asleep about a third of the way in. Daniel was worried about his best friend. he knew the stress was unimaginable, especially since she didn’t have a job at the moment, terrified he would go to prison and they would lose Rosa. He was trying everything to not let that happen, while his mom was trying to hide the embezzlement, which involved Daniel transferring the money back into Meade, no matter how small of amount it was; the damage was done.    
  
“shall we wait? I just want to tell you how sorry I am, Daniel. I really am.” Melissa looked as if she was going to cry. Daniel didn’t like to see anyone cry, he couldn’t just block it out like his father or Alexis. instead it seemed to stir something within him that made him want to rock the crying person and make it better. Instead he sat on the chair opposite at the table in Betty’s bright kitchen, not looking at Melissa.  
  
“Melissa. I am interested in your sorry, but I want to know more than anything, why did you do it? you could have made Rosa fatherless, why would you do that to a child, she has never done anything!?” Daniel asked, but Melissa refused to speak. He might have to get Betty down. he sighed, standing up, knowing she wouldn’t be happy about being woken up. “I am going to go and get Betty, please tell me what is going on when she comes down,”   
  
He went upstairs, not seeing Betty in her bedroom, instead he heard sounds coming from the bathroom. He knocked on the door softly not wanting to walk in on Jane or Ignacio. He rapped again when there was no reply.  
  
“Betty, are you in there?”  
  
“don’t come in,” her panicked voice came around from the small gap where he had pushed the door since he heard it was her. he heard the sounds of running water, and what appeared to be retching. Daniel wasn’t just going to wait around outside, while his best friend was throwing up and the woman who could have landed him a jail sentence was sitting downstairs playing miss innocent.   
  
“I am coming in, deal with it,” he whispered, getting into the room where he found Betty kneeling in front of the toilet. Daniel ran to her side, brushing her hair out of her face. “Betty, you are sick again, what is going on?” he sat on the floor next to her, as she leant back against him. it wasn’t even nine in the morning and she looked exhausted.  
  
“I am so worried about the Melissa thing, I think I am just exhausted from it,” Betty muttered, she had told Daniel that Rosa was going to be staying in the US, she might have to go back to London to sort out stuff, however, Melissa had hopefully brought the rest of her stuff over while Betty had quit her job. She could change all her details online anyway. They had prepared for having to keep Rosa in the US while they sorted out the matters of parental rights, even though now she was going to be staying longer.   
  
“well, she is downstairs, and I think she brought your luggage. She says she won’t talk unless you are there too, can you get up?” he asked, helping Betty to her feet. She shot him an angry glance, shrugging out of his grip.   
  
Melissa was waiting in the kitchen, looking as if butter wouldn’t melt. She met Betty’s gaze, seeing Betty’s bedraggled appearance, meeting it with a look of sympathy. Betty didn’t say anything, but went to the sink to wash her mouth out.  
  
“okay Melissa. Please tell me what is going on. we heard molly’s side of things, now tell us what this has to do with you,”  
  
“Connor wanted me to destroy Daniel’s life,” she started without any hesitation, the minute Betty was sat in front of her. Daniel bit his lip and looked ill at the thought. He had let this woman into his home, she had stayed with his mother when they went to New York, and didn’t want to stay in a hotel. She had told him all about her family and ‘growing up in France’ never did he think it was all lies.  
  
“we know that, tell us where you came in,” Betty kept her voice steady, although Daniel could see under the table her leg was shaking.  
  
“he knew that to really hurt Daniel he would have to take over his life, separate him from the people he really loved.” So far that bit added up, “he saw what molly’s death did to Daniel, and realised Daniel wasn’t as fickle as he thought. That is when he started to blackmail molly to do whatever he wanted.” That was different.  
  
“wait, in molly’s story she said Connor blackmailed her to take the treatment.” Daniel interjected, looking confused.  
  
“no, she took the treatment voluntarily, she was mad at you for sleeping with Betty, then not even trying to make her take the treatment, she said Betty tried harder than you. but, she was blackmailed when Connor made her ‘die’ in the eyes of everyone, since she realised she didn’t want to do that anymore. Then she realised she had been sucked into Connor’s little plan.”  
  
“we know the plan Melissa… unless molly was lying about that too?” Betty tapped her foot on the linoleum of the kitchen floor. Melissa shifted her gaze to look at Betty’s tapping foot, momentarily unsure.  
  
“are you going to tell Connor I came here?”  
  
Daniel looked between an equally bemused Betty and Melissa. “if you tell us the truth, we won’t.” he argued, Melissa swallowed heavily before continuing.  
  
“there were three plans, either have you arrested when we adopted Rosa, to take her away. Or if the arrest didn’t work I could just live with you and Rosa, gradually pushing Betty out. the last one involved molly, Connor thought, over the way you reacted over her death that she could turn up and you would drop everyone to be with her again. I told him that one wouldn’t work,” Betty looked sickened by the time Melissa had finished, clutching a hold of her stomach.   
  
“why Melissa, why would you do this to me? or Betty, or to a child? She is only seven years old!” Daniel asked, his voice soft. Betty didn’t look at either of them, not wanting to be part of the conversation, instead to melt into the floor.  
  
“Connor made me. I knew him from his Harvard days, he was a friend of mine. We were due to get married, then I met you. it was only one night, and you said you loved me- but it was enough to ruin me and Connor’s relationship. I was only twenty-three, and had been engaged to Connor for a year. So, I did it for revenge, and in the hope Connor would take me back, when I broke your heart.”   
  
Betty sighed, seeing the distress on Melissa’s face more than likely meant she was telling the truth. She put her hand up to her face, brushing the hair off of it, sighing at Daniel. he didn’t say anything, instead gritted his teeth closing his eyes. He and Betty both had expected for the mistakes of his past would come around and bite him in the ass… you cannot toy with people’s hearts and not expect them to. they just didn’t know when.   
  
“did he blackmail you, or are you doing it because you want him back?”  
  
“I want him back. But, he was also blackmailing me,” Betty let out a low whistle, Connor did not leave any base uncovered.   
  
“what for, I don’t remember you,” Daniel sighed, looking at the pot of coffee in front of him. it was from the night before.  
  
“you slept with me ages ago. Over ten years ago. You had just finished Harvard when I started, then Connor broke up with me, called it all off because of that one night. I became obsessed with you. I started to stalk you, even. But you never called me back or even looked my way again. you didn’t even recognise me when I stopped you in the street.” She sighed, looking at her very expensive jeans.   
  
Daniel felt conflicted, and played. He never even knew he had a stalker, much less that he was engaged to her. this was just getting weirder and weirder.  
  
“so, did you do this because you wanted to be with me again?”  
  
“no. I don’t know. Connor wanted someone who he had control over. I could go to prison for the stalking. I wanted revenge over you, so it didn’t take much to convince me, especially since when I started he was holding the threat of prison over my head as if it was a carrot. I stopped stalking you, a while back, so, I didn’t know you had a child.”   
  
Daniel took a deep breath, his head spinning with all the information. he used to have a stalker, that wasn’t surprising considering the number of spurned women, but he never thought that he would marry her.  
  
“what are we going to do now? you and possibly Melissa could go to jail, doubly Melissa once they realise she had access to all the accounts. As well as everyone else thinking that molly is dead,” Betty put her head in her hands, sighing.  
  
“I don’t know, I am so sorry. When I heard about Rosa I didn’t think you would realistically find her, I didn’t think I would be endangering a child. I didn’t want to do this, especially since I can see Connor is never going to come back to me,” she put her head in her manicured hands.  
  
“we need to find some way around getting out of this mess. The money has been put back into Meade publications, and thank you for that Melissa,” Daniel retaliated, frowning.  
  
“we need to find something that would put Connor in jail again.”  
  
“he is married to Wilhelmina. he isn’t going to stay in jail long.” Betty sighed, thinking of plans even though it made her head whirl. She just wanted to be free of this mess.  
  
“he will if Wilhelmina finds out the truth,” Melissa had a malicious light in her eyes, which Betty noted, this time could be used to their advantage this time.  
  
“wait, before we start scheming. I want to know something. Were you in love with me?” Daniel asked, an expression of utter neuroses appearing on his face.    
  
“when I stalked you, or now?” she asked, looking miserable too.  
  
“now? two years of my life where spent with you-,”  
  
“I did love you years ago, I am too angry to love now. why are you asking?” Daniel looked between Betty and Melissa, both of them staring at Daniel in confusion.  
  
“me and Betty have been sleeping together,” Daniel announced. Betty facepalmed. Admittedly, it felt quite good for Melissa to know that, especially in conjuncture with Daniel’s smug expression, but she was getting fed up of him announcing it to everyone. Molly, Mrs. Meade, even Christina (although for the latter she may be partially responsible)  
  
“Jesus Daniel, why don’t we just get you a megaphone, you can tell everyone then?” Betty said rolling her eyes. They heard a snuffling noise, and looked over, fully expecting to see Melissa crying. Instead she was giggling.  
  
“don’t you two think I didn’t know? Of course, I knew! I am not an idiot. Daniel isn’t exactly quiet when having sex and always running off to go and chat with Betty, although in hindsight I should have known you two would be onto me a lot sooner.” She sighed, biting her lip. However, Daniel had already focused on something else.  
  
“Betty, I do not announce it to everyone, it isn’t like I say ‘roll up, roll up. Guess what folks, me and Betty are sleeping together’,” Daniel said, sulkily. Then turned around to see Ignacio standing in the doorway. “oh crap.”  
  
“you and Betty are sleeping together?” he asked, as Betty didn’t take her head out of her hands, not looking at anyone.  
  
“er, yes, sorry, Mr. Suarez, it just happened, and I do love her, I really do. It is probably because we were both so happy to have Rosa back that we didn’t think. Especially since Melissa was conspiring-,”  
  
“Daniel, stop. Please, I know what is going on with Melissa, your mother called me yesterday, she spoke to molly. Melissa, although I have just had open heart surgery I will not hesitate to kick you out from my house if you hurt my granddaughter.” he tilted his head slightly, while Daniel blushed. Betty smiled slightly. Another person who could make Daniel blush was added to Betty’s mental list.  
  
“yes, sir.” Even Melissa looked bashful.  
  
“and Betty, Daniel. I do not want to know any more, I know you love her Daniel. that is all I need to know, Betty Rosa woke up and she wants you,” Ignacio said calmly, reaching for the pot of coffee and cleaning it out.  
  
“yes, Papi,” she exited the room, running up the stairs. Daniel could hear the footfalls in the quiet house.   
  
“okay, so what are we going to do?” Daniel asked when Betty ran out of the room.  
  
“I do have an idea. You said that Connor only got out of prison early because Wilhelmina’s father is a senator,” Melissa said. Daniel remembered telling her on a lazy evening all those months ago, about Wilhelmina. when he first told her about Rosa. It was strange to think that back then when he was manning up to tell her about the most traumatic part of his life she already knew. He felt like he was lucid dreaming, he knew what was going on, but it didn’t feel real, it felt as if he could wake up at any moment.   
  
“yes…” Daniel spoke after a long minute of silence, rising from his seat to assist Ignacio with making breakfast  
  
“well, Wilhelmina won’t be very happy about Connor sleeping with molly,” Melissa said slowly and deliberately. Daniel didn’t doubt that Connor would do something like that, if he could ruin a child’s life, he could cheat. Daniel himself had cheated, with Betty. Strangely enough, he never considered those encounters cheating, probably because he expected every woman who he ever came into contact with to know that Betty would be a part of him forever. Even if they hadn’t spoken in three years, or she got married to someone else… she would always be his Betty.   
  
“I know, but I don’t think she would stand up for us. She was the one who organised for Rosa to be taken away,”  
  
“the paperwork wasn’t even right. She is still your child,”  
  
“how do you know? I didn’t tell you, in fact-,” Daniel started, panicked. He wondered how much stuff Melissa knew, even as he had tried to hide it from her.  
  
“you tried to stop me finding out. It wasn’t hard to do a little extra investigating, I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to put Rosa in more danger, she isn’t the problem. Me and Connor are, and I think that Connor won’t be getting out of prison any time soon when Wilhelmina finds out. he could go to prison easily for what I have on him,” she shrugged, the prodded the luggage by the side of the table. “this is Betty’s. there is more coming, Christina is having it shipped. She said she didn’t trust me as far as she could throw me,” Ignacio chuckled when Melissa said that.  
  
“I think she might have had a good reason to,”  
  
“Daniel please, I am telling the truth!” she said. This was the moment where he could either chose to believe her or not. The moment where everything changed around.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty.

Betty sat with Rosa, having a full confession from Melissa earlier. Daniel had filled her in on the whole story, something which she wished that they never met Connor in the first place.  
  
Rosa was still watching the television, Justin intent on educating her on the musicals, her musical knowledge was ‘severely lacking’ apparently. Daniel had been brainstorming all day trying to figure out a subtle way of telling Wilhelmina about her husband’s wrongdoings, because there were a lot.   
  
“Betty, do you want me to bring you too when we tell her?” Daniel asked, bringing down a bunch of papers, squinting at them. He wouldn’t admit that he needed glasses even though he was forty and had to have Betty read it for him.  
  
“Daniel, we cannot just spring this on her. just like, oh Wilhelmina your husband is an evil-,” Betty glanced over at Rosa, who, despite not having taken her eyes of the television since the singing started, would probably notice if Betty called Connor a bastard. “anyway, she would wonder what on earth we are talking about. We wouldn’t just be able to walk into her office. We don’t do that, because we don’t like her,”  
  
“she will listen when she finds out her lawyers have done faulty paperwork so Rosa is still our daughter,” Daniel sighed, wondering how much more complicated this could get.  There were three plans alone for Connor’s operation ‘ruin Daniel’s life’ were built on a complex foundation of revenge and blackmail.   
  
“okay… just don’t do anything rash or without telling me first, I know what you are like when you-,”  
  
“are protecting your family,” Daniel filled in, frowning slightly at Betty. Betty felt it was better if they didn’t start arguing over this in front of Rosa, Justin and Leah. Hilda would not be impressed if Betty called Wilhelmina a bitch in front of her daughter. (at least Hilda had been wise enough to invest in noise cancelling earmuffs for justin)  
  
“we need to talk about this somewhere else.” Betty gripped Daniel’s arm, leading him out of the room, Daniel pouted solemnly.   
  
“Betty, I think we should just go and confront her.” he said when he got in the kitchen, Hilda was chatting with bobby outside so it was empty in the kitchen, with Ignacio having a nap in the living room.  
  
“I don’t,” she looked outside to the fading of pink light against the milky blue silhouette of suburbs, it that window didn’t point towards the city, instead to their back steps. “she is Wilhelmina, she won’t take us seriously. If we march in there and say that Connor is sleeping with molly we not only will get escorted from the premises, but also a free urinalysis, because she might not be aware that molly is in fact, alive!” Betty stage whispered, rather angrily.  
  
“then we tell her. I had my mom record molly, and Melissa is actually not lying. She would be willing to tell Wilhelmina, come on Betty… we need to do something about this,” he pulled her to sit on a chair opposite him.   
  
“I will think about it, but I don’t want to put you in a position where too many people could know about the embezzlement. That is risky, and what makes you think that Melissa is still going to do it. she doesn’t sound stable, Daniel. she stalked you!”  Betty was still a bit anxious thinking about that, especially since Daniel had so readily accepted Melissa into his life, not even knowing that story she spun him about growing up in France was crap even though everyone else knew the truth.    
  
“I know, but it doesn’t seem real. She is Melissa, the woman who quit her job to be with me, the one who can make amazing crepes,” Daniel stopped when he saw the look on Betty’s face, laced with worry. He didn’t love Melissa, too much had happened for him to completely lose all trust in her, making that something that he could never imagine happening.  
  
“are you still in love with her?” Betty asked, looking bashful. Daniel looked at his beautiful best friend in front of him, the small woman, with her smooth skin, mouth-watering curves and soulful brown eyes. It didn’t matter whether she was clashing polka dots and stripes; if her hair was sticking two feet up above her head, he would always love her.  
  
“no. too much has happened, Betty. I love you, I thought you knew that,” Daniel asked, gently cupping her cheek in his hand.  
  
“I know, but it sounded like you wanted to go back to her… you know, remembering,”   
  
“Betty, I… I remember the dream.”   
  
She looked confused, looking over the tops of her glasses. “the dream?”  
  
“you know, the whole nine yards, white picket fence, a family. I saw Melissa and she wanted that, as much as I did. And I had kind of given up on you… wanting that,” he said. Betty felt a little spurt of anger, responsible of her own insecurities since she knew she had been selfish. It didn’t stop her from doing it at the time, no matter how much she regretted it now.  
  
“do you blame me?” Betty asked, in a small voice.  
  
“no! Betty, no. don’t think it is you, it isn’t you. I don’t think I was ready at the time either, probably because the loss of Rosa, as well as me still being immature. I just didn’t want to push you, you know,” this was probably the first moment of quiet in weeks, even though the hum of the fridge and the sounds of high pitched singing could still be heard from the television.   
  
“I know, I just don’t want to believe it could all go so badly so quickly.” She sighed, putting her hands in the pockets of her cardigan.  
  
“I know, but we have to make the most of the good times Betty. And, it doesn’t have to. just because there are several complications,” when he said that Betty lowered her head not looking at him. combined with the guilty expression Daniel knew something was wrong. “Betty, what is wrong?” Daniel asked, putting his hands, on Betty’s over the front of her cardigan, and bringing them up to clutch them.   
  
“I think I might be pregnant,” she said, her voice quieter than even before, at first Daniel didn’t hear it properly, he still looked confused, though.  
  
“excuse me?” Daniel felt as if time had stopped. Betty could be pregnant, well, it did make sense. She was bloated, as well as having bigger boobs, swollen ankles, constantly tired as well as the puking. All symptoms of pregnancy.   
  
Betty bit her lip, fearing the worst. Daniel would be disappointed, even denying it. It was a very real possibility, but the fear on Daniel’s face was more frightening than the possibility of the pregnancy not actually being there.   
  
“I think I am pregnant, as in having a baby,” Betty reiterated, folding her hands over her stomach. Daniel blinked rapidly, not wanting to face up to the reality.   
  
“h-have you checked?” Daniel asked, while something inside Betty snapped. Daniel looked worried, why should he be? She was the one who might have a baby inside her, she was the one who was screwed if Daniel decided he didn’t want to be part of it anymore.  
  
“no, I wanted to tell you beforehand. I don’t think the way I told you last time was the best way to do so?” Betty said, trying to raise the mood a little, since she felt miserable, she couldn’t just start getting really angry at Daniel for not saying anything. She could blame the hormones; however, she didn’t have the energy to start yelling.  
  
“right. Do you want me to go and buy a test?” he asked, the pauses that punctuated each of the words long and unnecessary.  
  
“no. Hilda was the one who told me earlier today. She had a test on hand for emergencies, so… I thought I would tell you since I should really go through this with the father,” she choked slightly on the last word. Daniel gulped. The peace of their previous moment had gone, instead replaced by the silence, unbidden.  
  
“are you going to take it?” he asked, looking at his hands. Betty was angry now, not going to start a fight but not going to let it slide either.  
  
“that depends, are you going to say more than five words to me?” Betty asked, looking miserable. She didn’t want Daniel’s money, she wanted his support.  
  
“Betty… it is just a shock. I mean, it isn’t totally unbelievable, we have been having quite a lot of unprotected sex,” he sighed again, scooting his chair closer to Betty as she had decided to sit down.  
  
“it isn’t my fault you said you didn’t want to wear a condom, you have always been responsible in the past. I thought you could control it,” Betty hissed, knowing that Hilda could walk into the room at any moment with her exceptional hearing.  
  
“I could… but, sometimes when I am with you I forget my own damn name, so excuse me for not pulling out!” he said, moving his chair even closer so their knees were practically touching.  
  
“I don’t think I can be blamed for this,”  
  
“we are not blaming anyone,” Daniel said, looking slightly saddened that Betty thought that it warranted a blame.  
  
“I know, but are you even happy about it?” she asked, her voice low, as she reached over to clutch a hold of his knee. Probably for stability, but Daniel held her hands, rubbing his thumb over hers.  
  
“of course, Betty I love you. and I love Rosa, and I am sure I am going to love this baby so much. I am just worried about the timing, I could go to prison, even though Melissa admitted that she was the one who orchestrated the whole thing. The timing isn’t the best,” he sighed, taking his hand off of hers and standing up in front of her.  
  
“the timing wasn’t the best with Rosa, either. But, look how much we love her? she is amazing, and has your brains, something which I am so glad about. You know I want more kids,” he moved down again, this time closer to Betty so he could lean over and kiss her lightly over her lips.  
  
“you are smart too. Don’t forget that Daniel, and the timing doesn’t have to be perfect, but we are Daniel and Betty, we do things our own way. Tomorrow, or the next day, depending on how much I am throwing up we will go talk to Wilhelmina. we will get more people on our side,”  
  
“good idea, molly agreed to testify in court.” Daniel said, they knew Melissa was anyway, even though she was in on it much more than molly. In her defence, she was going to argue that Connor blackmailed her, especially since Daniel had agreed to drop all charges for stalking as long as she doesn’t come near him again.  
  
“okay, so we get all the evidence, give it to her. did molly admit to sleeping with Connor, on tape” Daniel gave a slight smile, which was strange especially since he was talking about his late wife, no make that his current wife who he still had to divorce.   
  
“good job, Claire,” Betty praised his mother, while Daniel chuckled.   
  
“okay, I will call tomorrow, see if Wilhelmina can set up a meeting,” Betty never thought they would be conspiring with Wilhelmina of all people, especially since was the one who took Rosa away in the first place.  
  
“thank you, Daniel. do you think Rosa would notice if we went upstairs?” she asked, while Daniel rolled his eyes, smiling. He pulled her up by her delicate hands, kissing them gently as they went through what once was Hilda’s salon to get upstairs. Hilda had her new salon, which thanks to bobby’s connections in construction gotten a new place, to open her own ‘classy’ salon in queens. Betty was so excited to have her hair cut there, missing Hilda’s hair-epy.  
  
They got to the top of the stairs, before kissing, Betty pulling Daniel around the corner into her old room before they locked lips. They kept kissing, Betty finding Daniel’s hair, and gripping it as his hands wound around her waist, dropping onto her lower back. She moaned into his mouth, stopping at the bedroom door, which they were essentially resting upon. It was strange how suddenly her moods changed, once she confirmed that Daniel was happy about the baby it was like the hormone gate had opened, letting her emotions flood her and making her literally jump Daniel (her legs were now wound against his waist)  
  
“wait,” she rested her forehead against his, as his hands were no longer on her waist, instead supporting her as he pressed her back against the door.  
  
“what? Aren’t you feeling good?” he moved back slightly, to let her feet touch the ground, but he gripped onto him.  
  
“no, I wondered whether or not we should do this in the shower, so we can clean up. It might be quieter?” she suggested, noting how Daniel’s hands shifted rather significantly under her bottom.  
  
“hmm, yeah. Sure, I don’t mind. it will be harder to explain to Rosa though, when we both return with wet hair.”   
  
“we are going to need a shower to clean up anyway,” Betty reasoned, her voice low as she continued to kiss Daniel’s neck. He grunted something quietly and betty felt a small spurt of satisfaction. While she may not be the sexiest, or the most successful she could still make Daniel melt in her arms.  
  
“okay, to the shower,” he lifted her higher, one hand already working its way up her back to undo the zip on her dress. They got in the bathroom, both rapidly shedding clothes as they stepped under the warm water. Daniel ran his hand over Betty’s stomach, the baby bump not visible yet, however the change was apparent in other parts of her body, as he murmured appreciatively. They were glad of the distraction by family member’s so they could have alone time.   
  
“what is it?” Betty asked, pulling away slightly form him, her form beautiful under the stream of water.  
  
“you look so beautiful,” he murmured, Betty raised her eyebrows.  
  
“will you still think that when I am even fatter, with the baby?” she asked, trying to cover herself up, suddenly self-conscious. Daniel pulled her hands away from herself, kissing them.  
  
“I will always think you are beautiful, now come here,” he pulled her closer, kissing under the relaxing stream of water. Betty didn’t even have a chance to respond before their kissing got more and more passionate. The whispering of love filled words mixed in with their lovemaking was a heady and addictive mixture.   
  
When they got out of the shower, Daniel was drying Betty’s skin gently, as she leant against him sleepily. “Daniel, I am worried about Rosa,” Betty admitted, turning around to face Daniel, kissing him gently on the neck.  
  
“why are you worried about her, sweetie? She is going to be okay, I am not going to get put in jail, okay?” he rubbed his hands along her arms, kissing down them. Betty shivered slightly, the conflict between her emotions and the sensations Daniel was giving to her was overwhelming.  
  
“we don’t know that, yet… but that isn’t what I was going to say. I am worried Rosa won’t want a baby brother or sister? I kind of wish we had more time when it was just her and us,”  
  
“maybe you aren’t pregnant?” Daniel said, pausing his gentle caresses.  
  
“I don’t think that is an option, I mean I am late as well, so… I don’t think it is a case of me overreacting,” she moved away from Daniel, wrapping the joint towel further around herself leaving Daniel naked in her bathroom, at least she grinned at that.  
  
“do you think she is going to be unhappy about it?” Daniel asked, reaching for another towel, toasty from being over the radiator. “I thought she wanted to be part of a big family?” he rubbed his slick hair, drying it as he faced Betty. Once again, the atmosphere was calm, like the cold unease that had settled over them earlier. Betty just hoped that they had been quiet enough in their lovemaking.   
  
“I know, but I wanted more time when it was just me and Rosa and you,” Betty sighed sadly.   
  
“don’t you want the baby?”   
  
Betty placed her hands over her stomach protectively, “no, I want the baby, I am just worried. What if Rosa gets upset when we tell her because she doesn’t want a baby brother or sister?” she sighed.  
  
“I don’t think she will do that,” Daniel grinned at her, kissing her again, firmer this time, on the lips. He knew Rosa wanted a big family, but she had just got her parents back. She had already made parents, one of whom was still married, and engaged to someone else. And then suddenly, they were starting a family together. He knew that Jane had brought her up, with help from the school for years, as a happy, intelligent little girl… but he didn’t know how she would feel about having a brand-new sibling to settle into her new life.   
  
“how do you know? Hilda didn’t like me when I was born?” Betty said looking annoyed.  
  
“I thought she dressed you as baby Madonna for your first Halloween?” Daniel asked, watching as Betty’s bright eyes lit up as she giggled.  
  
“I know, but she didn’t like me at first. She didn’t like that Mami didn’t pay her that much attention,” Betty opened the door slightly, wanting to check if anyone was on the landing so she could sneak into her room without Rosa or Justin noticing.   
  
“you have dealt with a needy boss, and Amanda as your room-mate for about a year. You are really good at balancing your attention,” they stepped into her room, Betty finding her pyjamas laying on the bed.  
  
“thanks Daniel,” she chuckled, winding her arms around Daniel’s neck to kiss him. “it is true though. When can I take the pregnancy test?” Betty asked.  
  
“I don’t know if you can take it right after sex? You know, hormones, and my…”  
  
“if I wasn’t pregnant before, I probably am now,” Betty responded, with a slight grin, reminding Daniel no matter how amazing things seem, there is always the next day. Daniel would have to face Wilhelmina, armed with the recordings and testimonies of Melissa and molly. He was going to be fine, she would be mad at him, probably for bringing this to him. Wilhelmina was notorious for not only shooting the messenger but blacklisting them from every other company that they might want to work for.   
  
But then she would realise Connor had been duping her, then she would bring down the fury of a senator’s daughter on him, if all went according to plan. The blackmail, the things they had on Connor were enough to take him down, not just the forcing of having someone else embezzle again from Meade.   
  
“okay, take it in the morning, and then we can rally our troops and take down Connor. I think molly might have already started to file for divorce,” he slipped his own t-shirt over his head as he spoke.  
  
“really? You aren’t going to go back to her?”  
  
“Betty, I don’t want to. she isn’t the same person that I married, and besides, I love you. our family is complete, and might be getting even more complete,” he pressed his hands over her stomach again, kissing her.   
  
“I don’t even know yet.”  
  
“I hope you are-,” Daniel was interrupted by a shy knock at the door, it was Rosa who stuck her head in a moment later. Luckily both Betty and Daniel had managed to get dressed, springing apart from each other by the time Rosa opened the door.  
  
“mummy, grandpa says he is going to make flan!” Rosa said excitedly, coming into the room. Betty sighed, her father should be resting, not cooking for his ever-expanding family. “he says I can help! But you need to, too!” she took Betty’s hand, dragging her out of the room and downstairs. Daniel chuckled before following her.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Ugly Betty.

Daniel walked into the room where Wilhelmina was sitting at her desk, looking no less poised than when he handed her the MODE crown, only she didn’t look like she wanted to kill him when he walked in. although she hadn’t been EIC of MODE for long, she had made herself trustworthy enough to start her own magazine, one that was particularly popular with the over forties set. Daniel himself couldn’t even believe that he would now fit into that demographic.  
  
“Daniel? what a surprise,” she said, raising a perfect eyebrow. Daniel didn’t roll his eyes, considering she didn’t say unpleasant, which was a big improvement. He had molly coming in, since he had gotten Melissa to record her own confession. However, molly would be more solid proof, seeing a dead person standing in front of her would be very solid evidence.  
  
“Wilhelmina, I needed to talk to you about something?”  
  
She sighed, throwing her pen down onto the paper “what is it? does that bag of bones you call your mother want to see me, you know I have an accountant to handle the finances?” she asked, raising her eyebrows even further as well as exuding a sarcastic tone.  
  
“it is about Connor?” she narrowed her eyes, looking actually inquisitive when he said that.  
  
“what about him?”  
  
“I found out that Connor has been doing some very bad things,” his tone was soft, usually something which warranted people to actually listen.  
“what the hell are you talking about, you egghead?” she asked, standing up behind her desk. Daniel held his ground. He had forced Betty to not come with him today, in case Wilhelmina decided to throw anything or got them removed from the building. She was taking Rosa to the park with Jane and Leah.  
  
“I am talking about him creating his own scheme to ruin my life,”  
  
“and I have a problem with that because?” she asked, pressing her hands against the flat of the desk.  
  
“you might, molly!” he called molly into the office. She rounded the corner, her eyes worried. Wilhelmina’s own eyes widened seeing the blonde in front of her.  
  
“wait, wait? Am I dead? Or am I just hallucinating?” she asked, reeling back and clutching her heart. Daniel looked at molly, not at Wilhelmina, who looked as if she was about to faint.  
  
“no, you aren’t. this was part of Connor’s plan.” Molly said softly.  
  
“what else was in this ‘plan’?”   
  
“I have the recordings,” Daniel put his phone on the shiny glass surface of her desk. The recording of Melissa started to play, stating her name, the date and how she fit into the operation. There wasn’t a felony that Connor was tied to directly, since they only had Melissa supposing that Connor forced her to embezzle in Daniel’s name, however he was still on probation so it could all go downhill if he was doing anything potentially illegal. The only thing Daniel wondered was how Connor managed to control it while in prison. Melissa didn’t tell him exactly how, but apparently, Connor had more connections than Wilhelmina.   
  
Wilhelmina stared blankly, not showing any emotion when she heard Melissa’s confession as well as when molly started to explain. At the end of it she blinked, pressing her fingertips to her forehead. “why should I care. Haven’t you ever noticed that I am not exactly the most law-abiding person,” she put one hand on her hip, her face assuming a questioning stance.  
  
“I thought you might say that, and it wouldn’t stop you from having your father just say Connor didn’t do anything because you could fabricate an alibi, so, molly reminded me of something you wouldn’t like,” Daniel said, narrowing his eyes at Wilhelmina.   
  
“he is my husband, we ignore each other when we do illegal stuff,” she pursed her lips, her hands returning to the table and tapping her nails against the glass, the sound resonating reminding Daniel of a ticking clock.  
  
“erm,” molly said, when she felt Daniel’s gaze direct to her instead “Connor maybe slept with me,”  
  
“when? You were engaged for about four years?”  
  
“last week,” molly whispered under her breath. Wilhelmina’s gaze tightened, then she seemed to growl slightly under her breath.  
  
“is that so?”  
  
“Wilhelmina, molly is terrified of you, I don’t think she is going to lie to you about that,” Daniel said. For a moment, a flash of another expression appeared on Wilhelmina’s face, just a second. If Daniel had blinked he would have missed it, but for a moment it looked like heart break. Daniel felt his own flash of guilt, however it was enough to remind Daniel that she had caused them severe heartbreak when she took Rosa away.   
Daniel made to say something, however Wilhelmina held up a finger, picking up her brand new smart phone and making a call.   
  
“hello? this is Wilhelmina slater, I want to report Connor Owens for violating the terms of his parole, as well as making criminal threats in intent to have someone else commit a crime. Yes, I do understand the warrant for his arrest,” she sighed, putting her fingertips to her forehead. When the call ended, she put the phone down, Daniel looked on, understanding that it was a brave thing for Wilhelmina to do to the love of her life.  
  
“Wilhelmina-?”  
  
“just go,” she collapsed back into the chair, while molly and Daniel left the room, Daniel looking back into the office. Part of him felt like dancing, but there was still the matter of Wilhelmina, sitting in that office, with a confused frown on her face. her heart was breaking, while his was being fixed.  
  
They walked up to the elevator in silence, however when they got into the enclosed box molly spoke. “I did love you, you know,”  
  
“molly, I don’t think I can go back,” Daniel said, looking at the shiny doors.  
  
“I know that, Daniel. I just don’t think that it is okay that we haven’t said anything about it, we haven’t spoken about it. we got married, remember. you joined a cult when I died to try and see me,”  
  
“yeah molly, then I moved on. what are you planning to do?” he asked, his voice coming out harsher than he intended it.  
  
She looked at Daniel, anger slightly more apparent on her face, however it softened when Daniel let out a squeak of an apology.  “I understand that you have moved on, and even with the blackmail that I was under, criminal threats,”   
  
“how did Wilhelmina know about that anyway?” molly shrugged while Daniel sighed. He missed Betty, they still hadn’t taken the test since Betty seemed to have discovered that if they were in the shower it would make it a lot easier to have sex without someone hearing, so they were going to take the test when they got back, if Betty could keep her hands off of him long enough to pee on a stick.  
  
“I don’t know, but she is right. Connor did threaten my family, who are going to be so happy to see me alive. He actually took me to my own funeral,”  
  
“so, you were that woman that was wearing the headscarf?” Daniel asked, moving back slightly to look at molly. “I just thought it was a weird cousin of Connor’s who wouldn’t speak, and wore sunglasses indoors,” Daniel said, grinning slightly.  
  
“yeah, how sick is that? Taking someone to their own funeral? I mean your sister faked her own death… I bet she didn’t go to the wake,” molly had met Alexis, which turned out to be an educating experience, especially because Alexis wasn’t the fondest of molly.  
  
“no, because she was busy having tit implants,” Daniel sighed, thinking about how much of a shock it was to have Alexis show up as a woman, and then hit on her because his family wasn’t messed up enough. In his defence, he didn’t have a clue, and becks kept doing it even after the announcement (although that was probably because becks were drunk off his ass and didn’t realise that it was his mentor in woman form he was putting his outdated pickup lines on)  
  
“okay, I knew that me coming back wouldn’t mean I would pick up where I left off, to be honest I was surprised you and Betty weren’t together by the time Melissa came into the plan,”   
  
“so was I. she promised to stay away, mom said we covered up the embezzlements, chalking it down as an accounting error. All the money has been put back,” Daniel gave a half smile at molly, in wake of this dizzying time. in only a matter of weeks his life had changed forever. He knew it was going to take some getting over that the woman he grieved over was still alive, while the woman he nearly married turned out not to live him at all, instead had been obsessed with him over ten years previously. But, he had Betty to get him through it.   
  
“that is good,” the elevator pinged, opening the doors onto the foyer. Daniel spotted Betty with Rosa, Jane, and Leah standing in the foyer waiting for him. “see you around molly, I hope your family takes the news of you being alive well,” he sighed, getting off the elevator and heading towards his real family.    
  
He got there, picking Rosa up in his arms as Betty was holding Leah. Rosa blinked at him with her big blue eyes, as he picked her up, smiling at him too. He smiled, she had the same expression as Betty did when she wanted something.  
  
“alright, what do you want?”  
  
“ice cream,” she smiled again. Daniel rolled his eyes.  
  


“really? Ice cream? Are you aware it is winter?” she nodded, but he still agreed, smiling at Betty and Jane. Leah started to clamour about the idea of ice cream, practically wriggling out of Betty’s grasp, so they made to move on, and go get them ice cream.

  
Betty got home afterwards, Daniel following her into the living room. Leah was covered in ice cream by the time she was delivered back to an annoyed Hilda, while Betty apparently owed her for handing her back a sticky three-year-old.   
  
Rosa had been impeccably behaved, despite all the sugar she didn’t bounce around in the back of the town car like Leah did. Jane had gone back to her niece’s house, looking for her own home. Daniel was safe, his mother had confirmed it officially as an accounting error. He was safe, Wilhelmina had gotten Connor reincarcerated, which wasn’t that difficult when she went crying to her father. He was arrested the same hour, much less the same day. Once again, the fashion world was set alight over anther Daniel and Betty drama as the press were calling it, Daniel wasn’t the fondest of that name, however he didn’t try and contend it at all.  
  
“are you ready to take the test?” he leant against the doorway to the kitchen. Ignacio was teaching Rosa how to make empanadas, which had resulted in the kitchen once again becoming covered in flour. Ignacio didn’t mind, at least Rosa had learnt some cooking skills from Jane, he was happy he had someone he could cook with (bobby had been doing all the cooking since he and Hilda got married- he wouldn’t even let Hilda go near the stove for fear of losing their security deposit on the rent)  
  
“I think so,” Betty was leaning against the other side of the doorway, however her arm wasn’t extended to the furthermost joint, instead she was curled up, her arms folded over her stomach.  
  
“you think so? Betty, it is peeing on a stick, you don’t need to think about it much,” Daniel scoffed, under his breath.  
  
“I am not ready for the result,” she sighed, looking at Rosa.  
  
“she will be fine. We are fine, I have no chance of going to jail, you are living here, and although I have been scooting around between New York and Paris I still need to get my stuff from your house. I got Melissa to cancel the offer on the house,” Betty hadn’t spoken much to Christina, in between all the craziness of scandal and Connor’s arrest.  
  
“why don’t you get Christina to ship it? you only travelled with a couple of suitcases, I thought the rest where with your mom?” Betty asked, pushing her hair away from her face.  
  
“they are. But, we need to do this first before we get down to all the moving business.” Daniel put his hand on her shoulder, trying to turn her around. Betty smiled at him, taking his hand too as she ran up the stairs. The test was in the drawer of her bedside table, she took it out, barely touching it with her fingertips as if it would reach up and bite her.  
  
“Betty come on,” he took it from her since Betty was just staring at it, transfixed. “why are you being so weird about this?” he asked.  
  
“because this changes everything,” she whispered, Daniel didn’t understand, each time Betty had a pregnancy scare, whether or not it resulted in Rosa it would change her life each time.  
  
“what about all the other times? That would have changed everything,” Daniel held the stick tighter in his hand, Betty still didn’t look up.  
  
“I know, but this time it is a good thing. We are together now, and we could be having our second child, and there is nothing stopping us from being happy, but I am scared.”  
  
“of what?” Daniel sounded worried now, was she having regrets? He was just happy to have Betty back where there were no schemes to tear them apart, nor an ocean between them anymore.  
  
“that it is too perfect, I am scared of the end,” she balled her hands up into little fists, which Daniel brought up to his mouth to kiss.  
  
“there is always going to be an end, but you can’t be scared of that, especially since this is just the beginning,” Daniel said, wisely.  
  
Betty nodded, reaching up on her tiptoes to kiss him as she plucked the stick gently from his hand. “why don’t we go and find out then?”


	24. Chapter 24

“daddy, do you think mummy will like my drawings?” Rosa asked, drawing more pictures of dresses, and fancy gowns Daniel would have doubted even Armani would have had the imagination to conjure up.  
  
“I am sure she will love them! I sure do,” Daniel took the drawings from the table, smiling at them, then reached up to put them on the fridge, only to be met with a noisy request from Rosa.  
  
“daddy, I don’t want them to go there!” she took them from Daniel’s hands, patting the papers in front of her on the kitchen table in their new house in the city.  
  
“where do you want them to go?”  
  
“in the nursery, I want her to know how good I am at drawing, auntie Amanda says so,” Daniel smiled at his oldest child, who was currently wearing a huge bow in her hair, not so dissimilar to the ones Betty used to wear on her shirts, only Rosa said it was a statement piece instead of a fashion misstep. She was definitely Justin’s favourite. Her room was decorated with all her drawings, as well as the letter he had written for her hanging on the wall.   
  
“yeah, I think mommy will love that. I wish I had one for my room,” he fingered the sequins that were diligently stuck on by Rosa and Justin when he was babysitting. Betty had been indeed pregnant, something which Rosa seemed to be more delighted about than them, especially when they told her that they were going to give her a baby sister.  
  
“I can make you one, but this is for Gabriella.” Rosa said, grabbing the paper and running upstairs to the nursery, Betty had been trying to spend as much time with Rosa and Gabriella, especially with them both together, they were so adorable, especially since Amanda and Helen had sewed some of Rosa’s designs for baby clothes, and as much as Gabriella could be touring every red carpet from new York to Milan she looked absolutely adorable, and everyone agreed that she was the most well-dressed baby, apart from Amanda’s son who was a few months older than Gabriella. Rosa had designed all his clothes too.  
  
Betty was sitting in the nursery, trying to get the fussy Gabriella to sleep, when Rosa came in. “mummy, I did some drawings for her room,” Rosa went and sat by her mom on the little couch in the nursery.  
  
“awesome,” Gabriella kept crying even as Betty rocked her, she didn’t know how difficult it was with a baby, so it felt like her first one. Jane was the godmother to Gabriella, as she had become one of Betty’s closet friends. “let me see those, why don’t you hold Gabriella, she loves you so much,” Gabriella was a fussy baby, even at six months however did whatever Rosa wanted, which included falling asleep on demand.  
  
“okay, mummy, will you tell me what you think? Honestly?” Betty chuckled slightly, passing the swaddled baby over to her big sister. Gabriella fussed for a moment, however when she had settled in Rosa’s arms, she stopped crying and settled down falling asleep quite quickly.  
  
“I think your sister loves you more than she loves me, but I think that is because you are the best big sister in the world.” Betty nudged Rosa with her shoulder as Rosa smiled at her mom, looking at the sparkling ring on her finger.  
  
“I don’t know about that, but daddy loves you so much. That is why he bought you the ring.” Rosa pointed it out, then Betty glanced to Daniel who was standing in the doorway, grinning.  
  
“yes, I do. And that ring is so I can marry mommy when this one is old enough that she won’t accidentally vomit down your mom’s dress,” Daniel watched as Gabriella clutched one of his fingers tight in her little fist.  
  
“I am still going to be flower girl, right?”  
  
“you can do whatever you want to be, you can be joint maid of honour if you want, Rosie?” Betty asked, smiling at her oldest daughter. Rosa shrugged, as Daniel moved them up slightly so he could sit the other side of Rosa.  
  
“only if I get to design my own dress. If gabby can walk, then she could be flower girl.” Rosa suggested. Daniel looked between Betty and his daughters, trying to supress laughter from the impending disaster of that scenario.  
  
“I don’t think we want to wait that long, Rosa. But, you can still design her dress too. You helped Christina with her wedding,” Daniel said, smiling brightly at Rosa. Rosa did not appreciatively, handing Gabriella back to Betty.   
  
“she is asleep now, grandma Claire says I am magic with babies as I can get them to be quiet,” Rosa said proudly.  
  
“I think she is right! So, why don’t we go downstairs and get some dinner, Gabriella had hers so we need to have ours,” Betty ushered Rosa out of the room, hanging back in the doorway with Daniel. “are you okay? You are a bit quiet?” she asked, gently placing her hands over his chest.  
  
“just thinking,”  
  
“about what? Because I am sure if it is that, then it can wait until after dinner.” Betty said, a devious grin coming onto her face.   
  
“not that, well… not just that!” he brushed some of her hair out of her face, kissing the spot on her forehead where it had hung down in front of her beautiful eyes. “how did I get to be somewhere so perfect, with such a beautiful, wonderful family. I truly am in paradise.” Daniel closed his eyes, kissing Betty softly on the lips as they stood in the doorway.  
  
Suddenly they heard a shout from downstairs, which was probably Rosa telling them to hurry up. She loved the new house they had got just before Gabriella’s arrival, especially since Rosa found out she could do handstands against the wall in her bedroom and not get told off for mucking up the wallpaper. What she especially liked is that Madison was only around the block from her, as well as Jane came to visit frequently, so she had her friends and her family.  
  
“mummy, daddy! I am really sorry, but I spilt the pot of glitter on the rug. You know, the white one!” she called up the stairs, leaving Betty in peals of laughter.  
  
“paradise, with a glittery rug,” she kissed Daniel again, before running down the stairs to try and salvage her furniture.   
  


 

  
  
  
Betty walked into the MODE closet, looking for the shelves that marked the secret nursery room. Amanda’s son Marcus (named- without any argument from Tyler- after her best friend) was supposed to be going on a play date with her daughter, Gabriella . Betty had been indeed pregnant, something which caused Mrs. Meade to comment on the strong Meade sperm, saying Betty wouldn’t have stood a chance.   
  
They were both happy, with Rosa being probably more delighted about than them, especially when they told her that they were going to give her a baby sister. But today, Amanda was babysitting, while they took Rosa out. It was hard managing an eight-year-old, and a baby of only a few months, especially since Rosa wanted lots of days out, but Betty and Daniel hadn't been able to take her on any of them since the arrival of her new baby sister.   
  
They had had a small ceremony, only involving family and close friends for Betty and Daniel to get married, probably because Betty was a few months pregnant when Daniel proposed, and they didn't feel like waiting much longer. Rosa loved being at their wedding, with the aid of Christina she designed Betty’s dress. Daniel couldn’t help himself from commenting on how Rosa had- thankfully- inherited his fashion sense.   
Rosa still spent a lot of time with Jane, who was the one who took her out on her birthday, since Betty and Daniel were busy dealing with Gabriella , who was constantly crying. Jane was almost Rosa’s best friend, although that officially belonged to Madison, who had moved to New York with her dad. Today, however, Rosa was getting some much-needed time with her parents.   
  
Betty slipped through the door, Rosa following behind her. Since moving back they hadn't been able to set up a new magazine, but Daniel went back to MODE, working with marc since Wilhelmina had her new magazine. Betty hadn't decided what she wanted to do, although it still involved running her own magazine- but it was a bit hard to do with two children running around.    
  
Amanda stuck her head out, wearing her own line of fashion conscious parent wear, since she was determined not to get paint or paste on any of her ‘good’ clothes. Amanda didn't seem to notice how her label was now a luxury item.   
  
“oh, good you are here!” she smiled, pulling Betty and Gabriella  into the small nursery. During the last few weeks of Amanda’s pregnancy they had managed to put in a window, to give the room some more light, to display the child safe minimalist furniture that was scattered around the room. Betty was glad minimalist now meant practically no straight edges, so there was less of a chance for small children to poke their eyes out.   
  
“yeah, sorry, Rosa wanted to use the bathroom, so Daniel took her,” Betty put Gabriella  down, who immediately reached for her aunt Amanda. Amanda, it turns out had a knack for babies, even her own son who she wasn’t quite sure what to do with in the beginning.   
  
“oh right, is she better?” Amanda asked, picking up the fussy Gabriella  and depositing her in front of the sand art table. Mrs. Meade had funded the entire room, delighted with all the grandchildren she has.   
  
“yeah, she just has to wear a lot of layers to stop her getting cold.” The recent winter had been difficult, not only because Betty was dealing with a fussy baby, but also because Rosa got sick and was off school for a month, after winter break.   
  
“well, winter fashions are trending now, even though it is march,” Amanda looked out at the clear sky from the window, sighing thoughtfully.   
  
“yeah, I just hope she enjoys it!” Betty gave Gabriella  a kiss on her head, as Amanda got the many layers of outerwear off of her.    
  
“she will, aren’t you taking her on a private tour of like the Guggenheim or something?”  
  
“yeah, they are doing a fashion through time exhibit, she really wanted to see it, and it was supposed to be closing today, but we have Meade power,” Betty smiled slightly, proud she could do something for her daughter. As much as Rosa loved her new sister Betty could tell she was sometimes jealous of her, which was another thing that both Betty and Daniel understood, since Rosa had only had a short time to herself with her parents. At least they had Jane.   
  
“well, ta-ra!” Amanda called, going over to supervise the small children, as Betty smiled. She was going to get to spend some time with Rosa and Daniel, who was just as incorrigible as he ever was.   
  
She found them waiting in front of the reception desk, where Rosa was leaning against Daniel, looking down at her new gloves.  “hey,” Betty said, coming up and kissing Daniel, then looking at the distracted Rosa.  “is she okay?”  
  
“she is fine, Rosa just is fed up of wearing winter clothes,” he said, as he ushered the sulky Rosa and Betty towards the elevator. Betty started to do her usual cheerful routine.   
  
“Rosa, come on, we are going to see a special exhibit, and we are going to be the only ones there. There is going to be no tall people in the way, except for daddy, but you can just shove him out of the way.” Betty smiled, taking Rosa’s hand. Daniel started to protest.  
  
“hey! Why do you get to shove me out of the way?”  
  
“because you are too tall!” Rosa said, her voice slightly muffled by the thick scarf she had on. She had cheered up, winding her hands around Betty’s and leaning against her mother. At least she was smiling.  
  
“I am not too tall young lady, you are going to be taller than your mother, you know!” Daniel said, smiling at Rosa who was doing her best to grin under so many layers.   
  
“I don’t think so daddy, I am the smallest in my class!” she sighed, looking at Daniel with an annoyed look on her face. Daniel smiled at her, loving his daughter even if she was a bit sassy. It was just Betty shining through, and the other bits of the truth that had come clean.   
  
“okay, well, sweetie, are you excited?” Betty asked, still holding onto Rosa’s hand. Rosa turned towards her mother, wanting to be picked up, but Rosa had grown slightly. Still she could probably give her a piggy back, but couldn’t pick her up like she used to. Rosa was very clingy to her mother, whenever Betty sat down she would have a shadow called Rosa who would come and crawl onto her lap. She didn't mind, she was happier than she had ever been since she had the family she had always wished for.  
  
“yeah, I am. Can we go and get lunch later?” Rosa asked, tugging on Betty’s hand.  
  
“of course, sweetie. That is part of the day trip!” Daniel smiled, he was taking Rosa’s pink backpack as well as his own since Rosa didn't feel up to carrying it around with her.   
  
“good. I really love you guys,” she leant into Betty’s side, smiling up at them. Yep, Betty acknowledged, smiling at her daughter and her husband. She really did have the perfect family. 


End file.
